Nothing Is Set In Stone
by chattypandagurl
Summary: [COMPLETE] Bobby, Rogue, and John are thrown into the future where mutants are outlawed and hanged for fun. They have to watch out for future hazards and find what went wrong. Is Rogue and Bobby's love strong enough? Can John change? Can they get home?
1. Where Are We?

This is my second X-Men fic. If you like this story, please read my other X- Men story, The Mutation. Please R&R, cause reviews keep me going!  
  
* * *  
  
It was going to be one hell of a battle. The Brotherhood-Magneto's army- goes head to head with the X-Men-Xavier's army. Bobby, or Iceman, was feeling nervous because that meant that he would have to face off with his ex-best friend, John, or Pyro. Bobby was sure that having the two best friends fighting to the death would be extremely amusing to Magneto with that sick mind of his. Bobby would never forget that he had nearly killed Rogue.  
  
And there he was. Standing right beside Magneto, clicking his lighter just like he used to. Just thinking about that made Bobby's heart pang. Just then he noticed Rogue shivering beside him. Oops. Bobby forgot that he was dropping the temperature around him. He lay off a bit and Rogue stopped shivering. She gave him a warm nervous smile.  
  
"Erik, there is still a chance for us to stop this madness!" Xavier tried to talk Magneto out of this battle of destiny.  
  
Magneto shook his head. "Sorry Charles, but you and your X-Men are meddling too much. With you always interfering, how will I get anything done?"  
  
"When we are gone, who will get you out of those messes you constantly get yourself in?" Xavier retorted with a slight smile. Bobby thought Xavier smiling strange: it was right before an all-out war between mutants.  
  
"I'm sorry old friend . . . but this must end now." Magneto snapped his fingers three times.  
  
Xavier shook his head. "I'm sorry Erik, but I cannot allow you to hurt my students and the X-Men." Suddenly, Xavier sent out a wave of hurtful telekinetic energy, which affected all of the Brotherhood, including Pyro. Bobby winced when he saw his former friend cringing on the ground. Only Magneto stood his ground, unaffected because of that helmet of his.  
  
Magneto put his hand out and sent everyone who had metal on their body backwards and hit the wall with a crack. Rogue let out a gasp as Wolverine (poor Logan) was got most of the brunt because of the metal in his body. There wasn't that many. The Professor was in his plastic wheelchair.  
  
"All of you, you know what to do!" Magneto roared. Those of the brotherhood who could get up focused their power into one. Magneto's magnetic fields topped it off. Fire, earth, magnetic, and a bunch of other elements all collided and were headed towards the X-Men's way.  
  
"X-Men, be ready for anything!" Xavier shouted. Rogue was touching Bobby's hand lightly, enough to absorb some of his power, but not so much that Bobby'll lose too much. Rogue focused on sheets of ice, and Bobby sent out icicles. Thunder and rainwater joined the ice, beams of red light and energy mixed its way in, and Professor Xavier focused it all to meet the Brotherhood's attack. There was a loud BOOM and everything seemed to fall apart. Bobby grasped Rogue's hand, he felt them being flown in the air, and then all he knew was darkness . . .  
  
* * *  
  
John groaned as he picked himself up painfully from the ground. He let out a curse when he felt a pain in his arm. It hurt so much, and it was broken. He couldn't move it. He hugged his arm and let himself rest against a concrete wall. Only then did he realize that he wasn't where he was supposed to be.  
  
This was a street alley. The X-Men and the Brotherhood were fighting out in the countryside, sort of. John didn't like the looks of this. He especially didn't like who he saw lying on the floor near him.  
  
John scowled as he saw the figures of his former friends Bobby and Rogue (or Marie if your daring) with their fingers interlocked. He noticed that they were pretty scraped up too.  
  
"Of all the people in the world, why'd I get stuck with you two?" John whispered to the unconscious couple, feeling a guilty knot in his stomach.  
  
Just to be in character, John lightly kicked Bobby in the back, just enough to wake him up. He wanted to leave and fix this stupid broken arm, but he didn't have the heart to leave them lying there. He may need their help getting anywhere, anyways.  
  
Bobby looked up groggily and looked around. His facial expression was surprised, but then when he saw who was kneeling next to him, face screwed up in pain, Bobby frowned and did not look all that welcoming.  
  
"Where the hell did you take us?" Bobby demanded. He quickly gripped John's bad arm to stop him from getting away.  
  
"Ahh! Let go of me!" John wrenched his broken arm away from Bobby's grasp. "Ow! How should I know? I just woke up and am just as confused as you, okay?"  
  
Bobby looked surprised at John's wince, and then noticed his arm. His icy blue eyes were concerned now.  
  
"What's wrong with your arm?" he asked.  
  
"Nothing." John mumbled.  
  
"We have to get you to a hospital and find the Professor." Bobby announced. He shook the girl lying beside him gently. "Rogue! Marie! Wake up!"  
  
"What Bobby? It's Sunday, no class . . ." Rogue murmured from a dream. "You're a good kisser . . ."  
  
Bobby blushed and John repressed a snigger.  
  
"Rogue, we have to go!" Bobby urged again, this time shaking her rougher.  
  
John had one part of his mind thinking, "Hey Bobby, can I put some fire in her hair and THEN she'll wake up?"  
  
Rogue finally reluctantly got up, rubbing her eyes with her leather gloves. She looked around skeptically at her surroundings.  
  
"Where the heck are we?" she asked.  
  
"I don't know, but we've gotta move!" Bobby said.  
  
"Why is John-?" Rogue started to ask, staring at John with hurt eyes.  
  
"Forget it, I don't think he knows anything either. His arm's broken." Bobby whispered softly in Rogue's hair.  
  
"What are you two whispering about? If it's about leaving me here, then go! Go!" John said crossly.  
  
"We're not leaving you. Get up." Rogue said soothingly. Together, they helped John off the floor. Afterwards, he shook them off, mumbling about not needing anyone's help. All of a sudden, a man dressed in a police uniform caught John by his arm (good arm) and asked him, "What are you doing here? Where are your parents?"  
  
John's eyes seemed to light on fire. "I have no parents. Lay off!" The officer was apparently smoking, and his cigarette was still lit. John took the heat from the cigarette and made a fireball.  
  
"This has been a REALLY lousy day, so I suggest you back off." John threatened. "And don't ever ask me where my parents are again." As a warning, he watched as the officer did a little jig while trying to avoid small fireballs thrown at his feet.  
  
"MUTANT! MUTANT! MUTA-" The officer roared.  
  
Bobby put a small sheet of ice on the officer's mouth before he could finish the third word. "Now you've done it John! Run!"  
  
The trio ran as fast as they can, but then a strong pair of hands caught Rogue by the hair.  
  
"Come 'ere, ya filthy little mutant!" Rogue's captor growled. He had a badge on that read, "Mutant Police" on it.  
  
"Let go of her!" Bobby froze the man's hands, and Rogue was able to squeeze out. But then, the three of them started coughing, and their eyes started stinging, because the police were using tear gas. The last thing Rogue saw before she fell unconscious was a puff of blue smoke, and a blue tattooed arm wrapped itself around her and . . .  
  
* * *  
  
Her head was swimming. Rogue was slowly gaining consciousness, and she noticed that there were two slightly blurry figures on each side of her. As her vision returned to her, she realized that the two figures were Bobby and John.  
  
Rogue heard voices outside the door.  
  
"-now I know this may come as a shock . . . but don't panic, we don't want to scare them."  
  
The door creaked open, and four people walked in. Most of them were probably in their mid forties or early fifties.  
  
Except for one.  
  
She looked like she was in her mid thirties, and she had a couple of bruises and scrapes on her face, but she was still very pretty. This girl seemed very familiar to Rogue, but she would not have recognized this girl for who she was if it weren't for the two white streaks in her red-brown hair that she was pushing back with her black leather gloves . . .  
  
TO BE CONTINUED . . .  
  
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How was it? Well, if you've made it this far without falling asleep or something, please review! ^_~ 


	2. Chilling Explanations

Thank you everyone so much for the four reviews! They get me writing! I changed the whole "attack!" "Counter attack!" thing once I read through my story one more time. Oh yeah, and when people are using telepathic powers, like sending messages to someone's mind, it'll be ~like this. ~ I'm not going to put in any accents. Another thing: I completely own X-Men. Yeah, I bought it from Marvel! Happiness! ^_^ No, not really. ( Please R&R!  
  
* * *  
  
"What? How can-how can you . . . be me?" Rogue stammered to her older self.  
  
The older Rogue looked just as shocked.  
  
"You're-you're a teenage me!" She said fearfully. "You told me not to be shocked," she added to a black lady with white hair, ("Storm, no doubt," Rogue thought) "But how can I NOT be shocked!"  
  
Storm smiled, looking pretty as ever, "Well, that depends."  
  
All of a sudden, Bobby started to stir. He yawned a bit and then smiled at young-Rogue beside him. Then he looked forward. And his jaw dropped about three inches. Bobby kept on looking back and forth from one Rogue to another. He was in complete and utter shock. Rogue swore later that she thought Bobby was going to faint!  
  
"Uh . . . am I awake, or am I still sleeping? If so, I'm just going to crawl under the covers and forget this ever happened. Rogue, pinch me." Bobby started going under. Rogue hit him on the head.  
  
"Ow! I said pinch! That was not a pinch! That was a hit!"  
  
Rogue shrugged. "Same difference."  
  
The older X-Men watched the two bicker with smiles on their faces. It was a little odd to watch these people from the past acting like this, but it was better compared to the way kids had to act nowadays. Now they don't have time to laugh, tease, play, or do what they used to be able to. Just because they're mutants.  
  
All of a sudden, John woke up and flicked open his lighter. He sent a fire ball at his "enemies" the old X-Men, thinking they were captured. Bobby, on reflex, froze them in midair before they could hurt anyone.  
  
John gave Bobby a glare and a questioning look, but then he saw the people he was going to attack. Like Bobby, he stared at them for a little bit with wide eyes. But then he resumed his tough guy act and put on a cool, casual attitude.  
  
"Who are you guys?" he demanded.  
  
"I think you know who we are John." Older Rogue snapped, her voice full of utter loathing.  
  
The hate in Older Rogue's voice caught John off guard. He knew she must have some dislike because he left them, but he didn't actually think she'd hate him!  
  
"Rogue?"  
  
"Who else? Of course, with your sick mind you're bond to do anything!" Older Rogue spat out, her eyes flashing dangerously.  
  
"Okay . . ."  
  
Kurt (their furry blue savior) laid a hand gently on Older Rogue's arm, careful not to touch her skin.  
  
"The Lord forgives everyone for their sins. If our theory is correct, then this Pyro has not committed the crimes you hate him for yet anyway." Kurt preached, his voice gentle.  
  
Older Rogue yanked her arm away. "How can you still believe in that when the whole world is sought out just to kill us? Besides, John WILL do it, so why not hate him?"  
  
"Wait, hold on, time out." Bobby held his hands up in a "T", "John will do what? What the heck is going on here?"  
  
"Another thing," Rogue pointed out, "If you really ARE an older me, we can't really call both of us 'Rogue' can we?"  
  
Older Rogue looked at her younger self thoughtfully. "I guess . . . well if I remember correctly, I liked to be called Rogue when I was . . . you. I guess you guys can call me Marie, and you Rogue."  
  
Rogue nodded. "That's easier."  
  
"BUT WHAT IS GOING ON?!" John yelled impatiently.  
  
Marie glared at John. "Hold on, Jean will tell you."  
  
"JEAN?" The trio exclaimed at the same time. Jean had died . . . hadn't she?  
  
They finally looked at the other people who were with them besides Marie and Kurt. They were in shock, so they never noticed Jean and . . . Scott? Rogue thought it was Scott. It sure looked like him, glasses and all.  
  
Jean waved their surprise aside. "I've gotten used to that a long time ago. It's really complicated, but it has something to do with the Phoenix . . ."  
  
"You mean one of those fire bird things in legends?" John asked.  
  
Rogue and Bobby looked at him in surprise. "I didn't know you had the brains to know that kind of stuff." Bobby said.  
  
John glared at him. "I do my homework . . . most of the time."  
  
"Anyway, it's a long story. The thing you need to know is what's happening now. Even we don't know for sure, but we have a theory, and if you answer some questions, then we can see if it's right or wrong." Jean continued.  
  
"Do you know how you got here?" Scott asked.  
  
Bobby took this one. "Not really. I just remember the Brotherhood and the X- Men having a huge battle, and we shot one big blast at them, and they did the same thing to us. Next thing I know, I'm lying in an alley with Rouge and Pyro." Bobby decided not to use Pyro's real name when he thought of that battle.  
  
"That's all." Kurt said.  
  
"One question? That's it?" Rogue asked.  
  
"That's it."  
  
"Ok, listen carefully and don't faint or something. We think that that blast that the two groups sent at each other in the past . . . um, I mean the present . . . caused a great blast of energy, which somehow sent you here . . . into the future." Jean paused a little to let it all sink in.  
  
"Ok, are we shooting a movie on the Sci-Fi channel?" Rogue said, throwing up her hands.  
  
"We ARE people who would be on it after all. I figured if the X-Men didn't work out I'd get a job there and make Arctic sets or something." Bobby joked.  
  
"Anyway, your being here disrupts the flow of time. We need to get you back to your time. Soon. We just have to figure out how. And I must warn you," Jean said, lowering her voice, "that in this time, things have changed. Do you remember the police officer who attacked you, Rogue?"  
  
"Yeah. I figured he was just a mutant hater." Rogue replied.  
  
"He is. But unfortunally, many changes occurred after your time. The Mutant Registration Law was passed, and they did one thing more. You may remember that the president tried to help us not get the law passed. He vetoed the law, but the Senate overruled him with the two thirds vote. They barely overruled him and the law was passed. And later, after the old president left, they got a new one, President Johnson, who hates mutants. In fact, his daughter is one, and he threw her out. We're taking care of her now. Anyway, he passed a law that outlawed mutants and legalized our deaths-and a new sport arose-mutant hunting. We still have some non-mutant allies, but they can do little, for they have been threatened with their lives and their family's lives. We are no longer protected citizens. Each big-shot city created a separate police force-called the Mutant Police. If someone reports to them about a mutant, they go immediately."  
  
"Sick. They're as sick as Stryker, the little-" Bobby swore harshly.  
  
"Stryker. Hmm. That's a name I hadn't had to think about for years." Scott said.  
  
"So in our time, people hate us. In this time, they kill us!" John hissed. He moved his arm as if to get up.  
  
"Sit down John." Jean ordered. John ignored her.  
  
"I said, SIT DOWN!" Jean used her telekinesis to force John back on the table. "Your arm still needs repairing. Medicine is a lot better these days, but healing broken bones is no piece of cake. Besides, we can't let you leave. You'll probably just go out and burn some public buildings and we will be in more trouble than before!"  
  
John growled. "Fine." He said, giving up. "You weren't this strong last time I saw you."  
  
"'With age and practice comes great power.' " Jean said simply.  
  
John scoffed. "Who'd you hear that one from? A fortune cookie?"  
  
Jean is usually a mellow and calm person, but at these words her eyes lit up like they did in Canada. She vibrated of power.  
  
"For your information, JOHN, I got that from Professor Xavier, who is no longer with us!" Jean said. She didn't need to speak loudly, her voice was enough.  
  
Bobby and Rogue felt a cold shiver go down their spines. The Professor, their mentor . . . dead?  
  
"How did he die?" Rogue whispered in a barely audible voice.  
  
But Jean had heard. "He died protecting us, allowing us enough time to get away from President Johnson's army. He sacrificed himself for us."  
  
There was silence. Kurt bowed his head and was mumbling some German words, probably a prayer.  
  
"And after all that . . ." Marie said.  
  
The three looked up at her.  
  
"You wanna know why I hate Pyro so much? It's partly because he abandoned us and took away our friendship. But do YOU know what ELSE you took away?" Marie said, her voice getting steadily higher and louder.  
  
"N-no." John stuttered. This Marie was starting to scare him. He personally didn't want to know what else he had done.  
  
"You . . . you murdered Bobby Drake. You murdered your best friend." 


	3. Unbelivable Facts

Wow! Thank you all for the reviews! I never thought this story would get a lot of reviews since my other X-Men story didn't. Thanks for reviewing and keep it up! In return I'll keep on writing! ^_^ I own Bobby . . . and Rogue . . . and John! They're MINE! *evil laugh* No, they're not. They belong to Marvel. If I did own them, I probably wouldn't be writing fan fiction. When someone is using their psychic powers to read someone's mind or something, it'll be ~like this~  
  
* * *  
  
"You . . . you killed Bobby Drake. You killed your best friend."  
  
John is what you would call hot-blooded. But he felt like his blood had turned ice cold.  
  
Marie had silent angry tears rolling down her face.  
  
"I . . . I . . ." John stuttered. He didn't know what else to say. Him, kill Bobby? It was impossible. He was jealous of Bobby sometime, sure, but he didn't HATE him. He never really wanted to KILL him.  
  
Bobby and Rogue were now looking at him. Rogue's eyes were wide and fearful. But she saw the tender, loving way Marie looked at Bobby: the way Rogue looked at him. Even though it was stupid, Rogue felt a little jealous that another person would find interest in Bobby, even if it was herself. Bobby's eyes, despite his power, were usually warm and friendly. Now he was in his element, and his eyes were truly ice. The emotion was covered up by that icy glare. Bobby just looked straight forward at John.  
  
John couldn't believe it. It can't . . . it can't be true. He would never-  
  
~ It's all true, Pyro. ~  
  
~ Get out of my head, Jean. ~  
  
~ Pyro, don't run away from your future. That's what you did when you left us. ~  
  
~ Why are you calling me Pyro now? You used to always call me John. Besides, no matter how much I think Bobby is wrong, I would NEVER kill him! ~  
  
~ Well in this time, you did. ~  
  
~ Shut up! Get out! SHUT UP! ~  
  
Jean let him go, still distantly hearing John's cries against her. He still had feeling. That is good. Perhaps they could change John, and prevent several things from happening.  
  
Bobby noticed John glaring at Jean, and Jean all of a sudden blinked her eyes several times like she'd just come out of a trance. He was pretty sure Jean just read his mind.  
  
"So . . . I'm dead?" Bobby said, the fact finally sinking in.  
  
Marie nodded. "Rogue, enjoy the time you have together." Marie blinked back some tears, but most just kept going.  
  
"Don't tell me I lost to John? That's impossible! I CREAM him in fuse ball!" Bobby joked, still in disbelief. (But then, who wouldn't be when you find out that you're blasted into the future and then finding out that your former best friend murders you?)  
  
John just sat there. There were mixed emotions inside him. He never wanted to admit it, but he still cared about his friends, even if they were on opposite sides of the fence on certain issues.  
  
Rogue was feeling two things at once. One was, "Oh my god, that can't be true? Bobby dead? And John the one to kill him?" And the other was, "God, I hate John! I swear, if I could just touch him . . ." Rogue cursed herself for thinking those thoughts. How do they even know this is all real? For all they know, they could have been captured, and some sick guy like Stryker was testing them . . .  
  
"How do we know this is all true?" Rogue demanded. "It just doesn't . . . seem right."  
  
"It was like that when Jean came back." Scott said. "Nobody believed it. At first we had her locked up because we thought she was Mystique!" He chuckled a little at the memory.  
  
"It wasn't THAT funny." Jean said crossly. But Scott made up for it with a kiss.  
  
"So you two are . . . still together?" John asked, finally speaking up.  
  
"Yes. We got married shortly after Jean came back." Scott replied.  
  
"So any little Scotts and Jeans running around in their diapers?"  
  
"Yeah. Three of them. Broke the population law while we were at it. Not we can only have two kids. But hey, just our existence is illegal, so why not?" Jean explained.  
  
It was a semi-lighthearted conversation, a distraction from that depressing fact they had just learned.  
  
But there was still one thing that bugged Rogue.  
  
"Marie? How does Bobby die here? When? Why?"  
  
Marie looked at Rogue, tears no longer flowing down her cheeks. Her face was serious, and she raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Are you sure you want to know?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Are you sure Bobby wants to know?"  
  
"I do, just tell us and get it over with." Bobby said. Marie thought that Bobby was taking this well, better than she would have guessed.  
  
"After the Professor died, the kids ran as fast as they could. By that time, me 'an Bobby were part of the X-Men. Most of us tried to stay together and take as many kids with us as we could. We hid out and located our resident computer genius mutant. He was able to hack on and give most of us fake IDs telling people that we're not mutants. Unfortunally, the people noticed someone hacking, so a lot of people didn't get any. Luckily he was good enough so that the government people didn't realize we were making fake IDs. And we go out and save young mutant kids and sometimes recruit adult mutants to help us run this safe haven. It's not as good or comfortable or educational like Professor Xavier's place, but it's something. It's hope. Me and Bobby got hitched about seven years ago. He died around two years ago. And-" Marie made a little sound like she was choking.  
  
Jean took over the narrating. "You must remember that this was a long time after you three's time. People grow older, and new babies are born. Well, if you remember, Magneto was an old man even in YOUR time. Well, he was around, oh, say, in his eighties or nineties now. But then, two years ago, the law caught up to him. He was already in a weakened state, and they were dressed in all plastic. He was helpless against him. They hanged him in public. We were there to watch, and we gave him a nice, small, private funeral, just like Xavier would have wanted for him. That was the when we saw the Brotherhood. We had a moment truce for his funeral. After, we heard them voting on the new leader. Pyro won. Suddenly, he and the Brotherhood blocked our way."  
  
Marie gave Jean a look that told her that Marie would finish the story. "Bobby told him off, but John wouldn't budge. He told us, 'I bet it was you stupid X-Men that tipped the feds off and had them capture and KILL our leader!' We all looked at each other and told him that we didn't and had no reason to. But John, as usual, is stubborn and hot-headed. He sent out a blast of fire (he had improved a lot and was now an expert pyromaniac) and it almost hit me. Bobby saw it coming and pushed me out of the way, he had no time to freeze it. He got hit instead. It turned into a grudge match between two best friends. They shot at each other, but not before they made sure that no one would interfere with their battle. I tried to talk Bobby out of it, but he refused and told me that it had to happen someday. They shot fire and ice at each other, it was incredible. They were both extremely powerful mutants, and in the end, Bobby had John pinned down. But he refused to kill his friend. No matter how much John had changed, Bobby still had hope for him. So while he was hesitating, John used up the last of his energy to engulf Bobby in flames and eventually burn him to death. Even Bobby's ice mutation could not save him, nor could he move. It was a terrible and dirty trick, and Bobby's hope cost him his life." Marie's story ended with silence. Rogue could feel John's eyes looking at her, but she just couldn't bear to look at him. Bobby was staring at the wall.  
  
"I wonder what he's thinking about." Rogue thought.  
  
Finally, John just got up from the table.  
  
"That's it. I don't have to take this bullshit. I'm going. Don't try and stop me." John got up and shoved Jean and Kurt out of the way, not noticing that he was shirtless. Jean didn't even try, just gave a sly smile. She closed her eyes like she was talking to someone telepathically.  
  
John stomped angrily out of the room and was about to go through another sliding door until a girl stopped him in his path.  
  
He glared at her. "Get out of my way." He tried to go passed her, but she shoved him back. Her dark brown hair was in a ponytail, and John thought she was very pretty.  
  
"Who're you?" John asked.  
  
"My given name's Elizabeth. But I like Liz better." She replied coolly.  
  
"What's your mutant name?"  
  
"Blaze."  
  
John's curiosity delayed his escape. "What's your power . . . Blaze?"  
  
"You could say I'm a pyromaniac."  
  
* * *  
  
Whew! Very long chapter! How was that? I know, kind of boring, since it's still mostly explaining. Please review! 


	4. Escape Denied

Yea! 11 reviews for only three chapters! Thank you all for reviewing, and even to those who didn't. So keep on reviewing and read the next chapter of Nothing is Set in Stone, the only thing I own. Except for Blaze, of course!  
  
* * *  
  
"You could say I'm a pyromaniac." Blaze had said.  
  
John just stared at her. He had never met another mutant with the same powers as he.  
  
"Well? Aren't you going to tell me who YOU are?" Blaze demanded. She put both hands on the open door and planted herself there, just in case John tried to make a quick getaway.  
  
"I'm John. But most people know me as Pyro." John said.  
  
Blaze's eyebrows rose. She inspected John from the foot up, and her eyes rested a second longer on his shirtless top. "And you actually tried to get out of here without a shirt?"  
  
John looked down. "Oh."  
  
Blaze rolled her eyes, but then looked at John again with a new realization, almost like she recognized him.  
  
"Wait. Did you say your name was Pyro?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Blaze glared at him with hate reflecting in her hazel eyes. She gave him an extra hard shove back.  
  
"Liar." Blaze accused, even though the hate in her eyes told him that she believed him, or at least had a lot of hatred for him? Then John remembered. The Pyro in the future was a murderer, who had killed . . . Bobby. This girl was probably around when it happened.  
  
"No . . . my name IS Pyro." He urged.  
  
"But you can't be. Pyro is way older, and he would not be welcomed here." Blaze said firmly.  
  
"I am. I'm him from the past. And you know what? I'm just as shocked as anyone else would be to learn that I killed my old best friend, all right? So if you'll just move, I'm going to get the heck out of this insane asylum, and learn the truth." Blaze didn't budge, just crossed her arms.  
  
"I told you to move." Pyro said warningly.  
  
"I don't have to listen to you." Blaze replied calmly.  
  
Personally, John liked this girl. She had spunk. But she was in his way . . .  
  
"Move it, or I'll throw this at you." John threatened, flipping his lighter and making a fireball.  
  
Blaze just shrugged. "So? Watch this." Blaze stared at her palm with concentration and made a fireball in her hand.  
  
John gaped at the fireball in her hand. "No fair! How did you do that? I can only manipulate fire, but I can't actually create it!" He was outraged and jealous, but he was also impressed.  
  
"It's easy; I just take the heat from the air or another source and concentrate it into an object." Blaze said coolly as if she had read this from a science book.  
  
"Don't you look smug," John said dryly, "but I WILL learn how to create fire. I will."  
  
"Not if the limitations of your power are only on manipulation of fire. My power can create it, but I can't manipulate other fire sources." Blaze explained.  
  
"Whatever." Then John's original reason for even coming this way came back to him. "Thanks for the science lesson, now MOVE." John had taken her fire ball and now had two: one in each hand.  
  
"No." Blaze said firmly. Then she put her hand in the air and moved it down. The fireballs evaporated into smoke.  
  
Now John was angry. This girl was pretending to be all high and mighty on it. Now it was time to go to the boy's area of expertise: fist-fighting.  
  
He swung a fist up and caught Blaze in the chin, causing her to start to fall backwards. But as she was falling, she kicked a leg up and got him in the chest.  
  
"Oof!" John stepped back, surprised at this sudden and powerful blow. As Blaze fell backwards, she went on her hands and flipped herself back forward. She spun and kicked John with a roundhouse kick, and then put her hand straight and stiff and placed it right next to John's throat. Her other hand was on his chest, pinning him to the wall, and her right foot was stepping on his foot.  
  
"Ok, ok, you win. Just get off my foot, ok?" John admitted reluctantly. He was just glad that nobody, especially not Bobby, had watched him get beaten by a girl.  
  
~Smile for the camera, Pyro. ~ Jean's telepathic voice came in his head. He noticed Blaze grinning her head off, and he saw the hidden camera in the corner.  
  
"Hey John, never been that close to a girl before, have you?" came who John recognized as Bobby's voice on an intercom. He heard a girl, Rogue, giggling in the background.  
  
John felt his face flushing deep red. This was Bobby's idea of a classic joke AND a sort of revenge. John didn't notice that Blaze was now a foot away from him. She was smiling.  
  
"Where did you learn to fight like that?" John asked. He was angry, but impressed.  
  
"Well, Jean taught me. She was teaching at my Jr. High, so I asked her if she could teach me some self-defense after school. See, I had just found out I was a fire-starter, and I was afraid of the Mutant Police. My parents didn't know-I couldn't tell them because I knew they would throw me out because it would hurt their political standing. Eventually, though, they found out. At that time I couldn't really control my powers all that well, so at my twelfth birthday party, I got so excited that I accidentally set the cake on fire. After that, they threw me out." Blaze told him, but her eyes were averted to the ground.  
  
"Wait a minute, 'political standing'? What's your dad or mom's job?" John asked, confused.  
  
"Oh, well, they kind of work together. My mom used to be a senator, but now she helps my dad. My dad's the current president of the United States. My name is Liz Johnson."  
  
* * * That was shorter than usual. Reviews please! Oooh, president's daughter. See what happens next! 


	5. President's Daughter

* * *  
  
"Your DAD is the evil president I've been hearing about?" Pyro asked, incredulous.  
  
"Yeah, I'm the 'cursed and unwanted child of his flesh' I guess. Can't hurt his public image or he might not get re-elected. The mutant haters love him. The mutants and allies hate him." Blaze said with a trace of bitterness.  
  
"What about you?" John asked.  
  
"Me? Part of me loves him because he's my dad, I guess, but the rest of me hates him, hates my entire family for throwing me out because I can do this." Blaze emphasized by creating another fireball and brought it close to her face. The flames licked her hands and reflected in her eyes. John thought it made her eyes beautiful.  
  
Blaze admired the flame. She said, "A lot of people fear fire. But once you go around that fear and look at it. I mean, REALLY look at it, you see . . . art. Fire can be beautiful if you know where to look." Then she closed her hand into a fist and the flame was gone.  
  
"But people like my father, they don't see that. They see only a threat, and they don't see that even though we have special talents, maybe sometimes dangerous ones, we're still kids, still human beings. And we deserve better than what we have now. Eternal fear, scouring the streets, sometimes not being able to sleep at night, and always wondering if your family ever loved you at all." Blaze continued.  
  
John thought that she seemed too old for her age. Maybe it's the life style she's lived. John didn't think that this girl had ever had time for herself, to have fun.  
  
Then, Jean, Scott, Bobby, Rogue, and Kurt came out of another doorway.  
  
"So, Pyro, how's it feel to get your ass kicked by a girl?" Bobby asked, trying but failing to look innocent.  
  
"Hey, it's not my fault she's knows Kung-Fu and I don't, okay, Iceman? I'd like to see YOU face her and win!" John challenged.  
  
Bobby laughed and shook his head. "No, that's okay, I think I'll pass!"  
  
"That's really too bad about your dad, though. I wish the Professor's dream came true in this reality. But now it looks like there's no hope." Rouge said sadly.  
  
"Exactly, Rogue." Jean said.  
  
"Exactly what?" Rogue asked, confused.  
  
"Now it looks like there's no hope. When you described the blast, it doesn't seem like you three were the closest. Why you three? Why not anyone else? I've looked on Cerebro, and I haven't found any of the others you said were with you. I'm thinking that you three were sent here specifically for a reason. You were sent here on a mission, to try and find out what went wrong in the past and try to save our future. Which means," Jean pointed her finger at each one in turn, "you three must be the key to changing this reality."  
  
"What?" Rogue, Bobby, and John looked at each other with surprised faces.  
  
"It makes sense." Blaze reasoned.  
  
"If you agree, I want you guys to go find the key to changing this future. Will you do it?" Jean asked.  
  
"Ok, anything to keep stuff like this from happening." Rogue agreed with a shudder.  
  
"Ditto." Bobby said.  
  
They all looked at John.  
  
John opened his mouth to speak-  
  
"How about this?" Blaze said suddenly, "If you don't agree I'll beat you up again, okay?" she put on a fake little girl smile. John felt very annoyed at this.  
  
"I was going to agree before SHE threatened me." John jerked his thumb in Blaze's direction.  
  
Blaze shrugged. "I couldn't resist watching you squirm."  
  
"Hmm." John hit Bobby on the back. "I guess it's the three musketeers again, huh, Bob?"  
  
Bobby caught John's hand and his ice-blue eyes stared into John's.  
  
"We'll work with you for now, but try it, try to betray us again, and you'll be feeling a couple ice spikes in your back." Bobby warned.  
  
"But don't worry; if you do betray us, you get to have my bare hand touch your face." Rogue warned with a sarcastic happiness.  
  
"Lucky me." John retorted sarcastically.  
  
"But Jean, we don't even know where to start!" Bobby exclaimed. "This is a new New York! We don't know what's safe and what's not. And none of us have those ID things that you guy stole, either!"  
  
Marie nodded. "That's why Blaze is coming with you."  
  
John looked at her in mock horror. "No! Not her!" he yelled, playing his part. But really he thought it was good that she was coming, it would give them more firepower-ignore the pun.  
  
Blaze rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up Pyro."  
  
"We have been looking at this in a while," Scott said, "And we figure this whole chain of trouble started with the passing of the Mutant Registration Act. So we want you guys to infiltrate the News Archives, a new building that has tons of information. But the whole thing about the Mutant Registration Act disappeared. We found a secret entrance, but we're all too big to fit. And the mutants here who fit the size are too inexperienced and is still getting used to this. Blaze was the only eligible one. But we did not send her because we want her to have back up. So your job is to get in there and find that information. Are you up to that?"  
  
They all nodded.  
  
Bobby's stomach growled.  
  
He blushed, but said, "First can we get some food?"  
  
* * *  
  
Sorry, that was kind of a boring and short chapter. Next chapter will be of their mission! Review please! 


	6. The Mission

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. But something was wrong with my internet connection, so I couldn't go on and update. Thank you all for the reviews and I give you all a mental hug!  
  
* * *  
  
"I'm still not sure if this is really real." Rogue muttered. "I mean, this is a lot to take in."  
  
"Well, believe it, you're here now. The best thing to do is accept it." Blaze said.  
  
They were casually walking down the street towards the library. Bobby, John, and Rogue had no problem doing that, but Blaze looked uneasy and nervous.  
  
Rogue accidentally tripped and stopped herself from falling by clinging onto the person in front of her-Blaze's-shoulder. Blaze jumped in the air at Rogue's touch and swung an arm at Rogue's head.  
  
Rogue was caught off guard and didn't have time to react. Luckily, a stream of ice froze Blaze's arm an inch away from Rogue's face.  
  
Blaze realized what she was doing and muttered, "Sorry."  
  
"That's ok." Rogue said shakily.  
  
John sighed and got out his lighter, but Blaze shook her head, ponytail whipping in the wind, and made her arm hot, hot enough to melt the ice.  
  
Rogue looked around with a worried look on her face. "Everybody, block Blaze from anyone else's view."  
  
They did so until all the ice had melted away.  
  
"Thanks Bobby, but I just hope no one saw you or this is over before it began." Rogue said gratefully.  
  
"If they did, we'd be in chains by now." Blaze said. "Sorry about that. I just get really jumpy when I go outside."  
  
"That's understandable." John said.  
  
Bobby felt something stir within him. John usually wasn't this level-headed and quiet. Something was up. Maybe it was because he got beat by a girl, (Bobby smiled at the thought) but most likely it was something else.  
  
Blaze and Pyro continued onwards, but Bobby held Rogue back a second. He tried to kiss her cheek, but she pulled back. "Bobby . . . you know I don't want to hurt you . . . I nearly did last time!" Rogue argued reluctantly.  
  
"I'm just thinking that if we die here . . ." Bobby said with a playful smile on his face.  
  
Rogue frowned. "Bobby . . ."  
  
Too late. Bobby did a millisecond peck on her mouth before Rogue could react. Nothing happened to him. Rogue sighed in relief. Then she pushed him back. "Don't do that!"  
  
Bobby just smiled. "But you liked that, didn't you?"  
  
Rogue grinned and admitted she did.  
  
Suddenly, John's voice could be heard, "HEY! HURRY UP, WILL YA?"  
  
* * *  
  
"Here's the vent. I'll go first, so um . . . either Bobby or Pyr-uh, that guy," Blaze pointed to John, "give me a lift, then Rogue, and then somehow get yourselves up. The other one can be the watch out."  
  
John exploded. "That guy? That guy? You stopped in mid-word when you said my mutant name. If everyone in this stupid place hates me or at least the name 'Pyro' then just call me 'John' for god sakes!"  
  
Blaze looked unfazed. "Fine then, JOHN. You know, you have an Australian accent when you get mad. It's cute, why don't you always sound that way? Maybe some people in this reality would actually like you just cause of your accent." She teased him. For some reason she liked pushing him to the edge. It was just so funny to see him that mad and irritated.  
  
And she didn't usually get to do stuff like that to people or she'll get in trouble. Everyone here pretty much dislikes him anyway, so no one besides him will tell her off.  
  
Bobby chuckled and Rogue put a gloved hand to her mouth, suppressing a smile.  
  
John was outraged. Nobody, no GIRL talks to him like that. Maybe Bobby, but hey, Bobby was his best bud for a long time. But he just met this girl and already she knew how to get under his skin.  
  
"Oh shut up and get your fat butt in that vent!" John snapped.  
  
"Ooh, I'm hurt." Blaze retorted. She was used to worse than that.  
  
"I'll get you up there myself if I have to!" John said, realizing his months of speech therapy to get rid of his Australian accent was all ebbing away as he yelled on.  
  
Blaze was standing on a couch. He grabbed her legs and practically shoved her into the vent. Blaze had just opened it. Good thing her scream was muffled by the vent.  
  
"Rogue next." John said gruffly.  
  
Rogue shook her head. "No way, John. Bobby's helping me up, aren't you Bobby?"  
  
"Yeah, John you keep watch. And don't try anything." Bobby reminded him.  
  
John rolled his eyes and silently cursed Bobby as he helped his girlfriend up. Blaze had her arms out to help Rogue up into the vent.  
  
"Want to go last or should I?" Bobby asked.  
  
"Since you obviously don't trust me, you can go last." John said.  
  
"No, because then you'll be near Rogue-"  
  
"Just make up your mind, Iceman!"  
  
"I go last."  
  
"Thank you. Finally."  
  
"Whatever."  
  
Bobby stood directly in front of the vent, and then pointed at his feet. Ice came from his fingers and grew under his feet. The ice carried him all the way up to the vent, where he climbed in. John rolled his eyes, and tried to climb onto Bobby's ice path. Unfortunally Pyro slipped and fell onto his butt.  
  
"Hey, some help down here!" John hissed up there.  
  
"Burn down my ice path first." Bobby's echoing voice came.  
  
John made a fireball in his hand and slowly melted it and then stood right where Bobby had.  
  
"Ice away."  
  
Ice did not come from the vent. Ice just formed underneath his feet, catching the pyromaniac off guard.  
  
Once Pyro got up there and melted the ice, they closed the vent cage behind them and crawled away.  
  
In short, it was a long, boring crawl in the vent. It was terribly dusty, and each person sneezed at least every two minutes. An occasional spider or rat crawled by, and it was starting to get a little crowded. And it was uncomfortably warm since Blaze had to use her fire to light the way.  
  
"Ow! You just crawled on my hand!"  
  
"Watch it!"  
  
"Shut up!"  
  
"No, YOU shut up!"  
  
"This is going to be a long day."  
  
After what seemed like forever, they reached their destination.  
  
"Hyee-yah!" Blaze kicked the vent open and jumped down to the darkness.  
  
"Go on, it's only a short way!" she shouted.  
  
Rogue followed, then the boys. It was pitch black, so they couldn't see anything. They heard a loud CLICK and a ball of fire was in John's hands. Blaze followed suit by creating two fire balls. They found a couple of old fashion torches hanging on the walls and lit them up. Their location was now revealed.  
  
"This place is dustier than that vent." John said, "Can we burn it?"  
  
They all looked at John.  
  
"What? It was just a suggestion!" John defended himself.  
  
"Ok, everybody, look around and search for anything that looks interesting." Blaze ordered.  
  
They all scattered to the four corners of the rooms and rummaged through newspaper articles and . . .  
  
"Computer disks. Bingo." John whispered. He threw all the paper off the table and found an old computer. Well, new in their time.  
  
Blaze noticed the computer and said, "Hey, isn't that an old computer? Those things are illegal now. All the new computers are censored and are under twenty-four hour surveillance. To look for potential mutants. Of course, we're not as stupid as they think so we modified our computers so we have more freedom. And we even have a chat room for mutants."  
  
John proceeded to turn it on.  
  
"No! Don't do that!  
  
John sighed in an annoyed way. "Now what?"  
  
"Hello! If they would hide this, which meant that the computer was planted there so you'd want to activate the disks here! That could activate a silent alarm. Maybe, I don't know, but we can't take that risk." Blaze explained.  
  
"What if they had hidden cameras here?" John demanded.  
  
"Well, another thing is that the X-Men shut off all the power in the library. So the computer wouldn't work anyway."  
  
"Fine." John said gruffly as he moved his finger away from the switch.  
  
Bobby and Rogue had come over with several article clippings in hand. "Take those with you Pyro," Bobby said, "We'll check them out at the mansion-um, I mean that . . . place where everybody else is."  
  
"Let's go."  
  
So they got back up in the vent and crawled back out again.  
  
"Whoever thought we'd actually need someone to memorize the ventilation map." John said to no one in particular.  
  
"Shut it, John." Rogue ordered.  
  
"Yeah yeah yeah."  
  
Blaze hopped out of the vent. They waited for her "Ok!"  
  
It did not come.  
  
"Blaze?" John called. "Bet she fell and broke a nail or something. All right, I'm going out."  
  
John hopped down and was face to face with a man with an expression of pure hate. John's heart skipped a beat when he saw Blaze on the floor with her eyes closed. Then his heart just stopped when he noticed a badge on the man's chest.  
  
A badge that read, "Mutant Police" . . . 


	7. Uh Oh

Yay! 22 reviews! Thanks everyone who reviewed, please review this chapter too! ^_^ And I don't own X-Men. Which really sucks.  
  
* * *  
  
Oh shoot. John thought angrily. What to do, what to do . . .  
  
The only thing John could come up with was to play stupid. But then he has to save Blaze, otherwise everyone else will accuse him of betrayal . . . again.  
  
"Hello, officer, what's up?" John said cheerily. "Nice weather we're having, huh? Cloudy, cold, and books all around us! Um . . . did you want something?"  
  
"Yeah, come with me, mutant filth." The guy grabbed John's shirt roughly and put his other hand around John's throat. "I'd kill ya now if I wanted to, but the mayor has given me specific orders to take mutants to him . . . and then watch 'em burn at the stake!"  
  
"Burn at the stake? Isn't that what people do to witches?" John asked. "Let me go, I'm not a mutant."  
  
"That what ARE you, pretty boy?"  
  
Did he just call me pretty boy? Barf! John thought. "A resident human being . . . and hey, I hate mutants too, isn't it a small world? Let me go."  
  
"No! I don't think so."  
  
God this guy is stupid. John thought.  
  
"If you insist." John sighed. He didn't even notice John's hands plunging into his pockets to get out his silver lighter while John distracted him by talking.  
  
"Bye-bye." John said with a maniac grin on his face. He flicked it open and sent the guy crashing into the wall, giving him several burns in the process.  
  
John sighed. "That was almost too easy." He walked over to Blaze and checked her pulse. (One of the useful things he learned with the Brotherhood) She's alive, but unconscious.  
  
Suddenly, John felt something like a needle or a dart at the back of his neck, and the drug inside it started to work its magic. John swayed a bit, his eyesight came in and out of focus, and then he collapsed. The person in black who threw the dart shook its head and said,  
  
"Fool. When will those mutants ever learn?"  
  
It was a woman's voice.  
  
Then she looked sharply up at a banging noise inside the vent. Her lips curled into a smile.  
  
"Ah. More mutants."  
  
* * *  
  
"Rogue, can you see what's going on down there?" Bobby asked.  
  
"Not really. But I thought I heard John's voice and another one's talking, and then I saw a blast of fire. Then silence." Rogue reported.  
  
"Hmm. Stick your head out for a second and try and see." Bobby urged.  
  
Rogue nodded and stuck part of her head out. She had just spotted John's and Blaze's body lying crumpled on the ground when something went whizzing past her head. Rogue stiffened with fright as it whizzed past her. She let out the breath she was holding when it missed her by centimeters. Then she caught a glimpse of a figure in black.  
  
"Move, Bobby, MOVE!" Rogue hissed.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"No questions move!" Rogue scrambled past a confused Bobby. Seeing that he wasn't going to join her any time soon, she grabbed his shirt and dragged him until he moved himself.  
  
Rogue moved as fast as she could in the opposite direction they were going, with Bobby trailing behind her.  
  
Suddenly, she heard a woman's voice cackling, "Burn, mutants, BURN!"  
  
"Oh great." Bobby muttered. "We are lost and has a crazy woman serial killer on our back."  
  
Suddenly from the vent opening came a roar, and flames licked the metal walls. It was coming closer and closer to them!  
  
"Bobby!" Rogue cried desperately. She was already covered up, and now she felt like her skin was on fire, it was that hot.  
  
"Hold on, Rogue!" Bobby yelled back. He directed his hands toward the flames, and froze them.  
  
He crawled back to his shaking and sweating girlfriend. She nearly suffocated him in a tight embrace, and a quick kiss.  
  
"Oh my god that was way too close. Way too close." Rogue murmured.  
  
"It's ok." Bobby said in a soothing voice.  
  
"Bobby, we have to move just in case your ice melts."  
  
"All right. Lead the way, whatever the way is."  
  
* * *  
  
Blaze woke up to a splitting headache. She did not anticipate the mutant police to smash her head once she landed on the ground. She didn't even have time to react and set fire to their clothes!  
  
Blaze muttered some curse words as she noticed that she was strapped to a table with metal chains. She tried to turn her head and look around. She groaned as she noticed John, still unconscious, strapped to another table as well. Great. Now she had to worry about saving herself AND the evil idiot. She was relieved that she did not see Bobby or Rogue though. She hoped they had escaped somehow and was now informing the X-Men about their capture. Hopefully.  
  
"Jo-Pyro! Wake up!" Blaze yelled. Don't say real names if captured! Blaze scolded herself.  
  
He didn't even move, or snore, for that matter.  
  
Blaze's irritation level was increasing.  
  
"For god sakes, wake up you useless Australian!" Blaze yelled, not intending to try and wake him up, but instead to vent her anger on him the best she could.  
  
But to her surprise, he did wake up!  
  
"Who're you calling useless? And Australian?" John demanded grumpily.  
  
"YOU, who else?" Blaze retorted, sticking her tongue out at him.  
  
This did not improve John's grumpiness one bit.  
  
"Shut up Liz!" John said, emphasizing her name with great dislike.  
  
"Are you that dumb?!" Blaze screeched. "Don't say our names out loud, dummy! Not that even is my real name in the first place. Sorry, not, that I lied but to tell you the truth, I didn't trust you!"  
  
Of course, THAT was the real lie, since she needed to somehow fool whoever was listening of that. Her real name is Liz.  
  
John's eyes grew wide. "Really? Well, that doesn't really matter since NOBODY trusts me anyway so why would you be any different! Even when I was back at the manor, nobody trusted me anyway, so what would it matter? Why should I listen to all your blah, blah, blah, blah!" John's Australian accent had come back, and he was in a crazy rant now. Blaze sensed this and needed him to calm down before he gave anything away.  
  
"Ok, ok, I'm sorry, just calm down, okay? You're giving me a headache."  
  
"I'M GIVING YOU A HEADACHE? YOU'RE GIVING ME A HEADACHE!"  
  
"And I'm not helping." Blaze sighed.  
  
Suddenly, John began struggling against his STEEL bounds.  
  
"Stop it! You're going to waste all your energy!" Blaze ordered.  
  
John cursed at her but obeyed.  
  
"So I suppose we're right. Mutants and Subject #2 are on the edge of emotion, and with the explosive powers can cause much damage. Subject #2 is the male, of course." A man in a white lab coat approached them.  
  
"Why am I number two? Does that mean SHE'S number one?" John demanded. "I feel so cheated."  
  
Blaze thought that due to this situation, she shouldn't, but she just couldn't resist one smirk.  
  
"Subject #1, the female, makes very unusual and rude facial expressions." The man continued.  
  
Blaze's mouth opened in protest. "Excuse me, if you lived in the real world, all teenagers and even adults have smirked before. Look! Look, YOU'RE doing it now!"  
  
"Whether or not I or any other NORMAL teenager does it, it's because you are a mutant, and rude expressions made by a mutant are not tolerated in this new world." The man said stiffly.  
  
"Well, I've lived in a pretty crummy world as a mutant, but I see that this place is worse than where I used to live!" John said.  
  
"Besides, how do you even know that I am a mutant? I don't have any powers and you knocked me out before I even saw you!" Blaze protested. "I swear!"  
  
"But Subject #2 is a mutant. And you should know that associating with mutants cause yourself to be identified as a mutant yourself." The man said.  
  
"Yeah, well . . ." John was able to stick his middle finger at the man.  
  
"Stop calling me subject #2. I am not a subject or a thing. I am a person, and I could kill you right now if I wanted to." John bluffed. He couldn't reach his lighter.  
  
"Subject 2, threats will do nothing, since we have observed your power, and you seemed to have needed the use of that silver lighter to activate it. And . . ." The man reached into his pocket and took out John's lighter.  
  
"Son of a-" John tried in vain to wriggle out of his bonds.  
  
"Give that back!" John demanded.  
  
"And be burned? I think not."  
  
"What do you want with us? Since we're 'subjects' that means we're supposed to do something, right? Well, what is it?" Blaze asked.  
  
"Seems Subject 1 is smarter and more logical than subject 2." The man observed, and then wrote something onto his clipboard.  
  
John was very angry and did the "rude finger gesture" again.  
  
"We of the government are not stupid-" the man began,  
  
"Actually it is. I should know." Blaze muttered bitterly, remembering her father and mother, both politicians.  
  
"-we know that we cannot eliminate all of the mutants in the world. It is physically impossible. So we've decided to make use of the mutants while we have to put up with them and their filth. And we've worked for years to perfect this, and needed a male and female mutant to test this on."  
  
"Why?" John asked in a suspicious tone. Neither John nor Blaze liked where this was going.  
  
The man had a very annoying cherry voice on. "We're going to inject you with a super gene that makes you more powerful the U.S. Army, and then you two are going to mate and have a super child. And if the public gets bored and angry due to the lack of dying mutants, then Subject 2 will have to go."  
  
Both their jaws dropped, and they glared at each other like it was the other's fault.  
  
"Ew, ew, ew, EW!" Blaze looked like she was going to throw up.  
  
"God you people are SICK!" John was disgusted.  
  
"I don't even like him!"  
  
"I don't even like her!"  
  
"AT ALL!" They both yelled in unison.  
  
"Quiet, both of you!" A figure in the doorway ordered.  
  
Their curiosity shut them up and they watched the figure, wondering who it could be. John's eyes narrowed, feeling as if he had met whoever it was before. The voice was feminine, and very familiar.  
  
The two didn't know it, but it was the same black figure that Rogue had seen, the one who tried to kill them.  
  
The woman removed the hood to reveal short red hair and . . . yellow eyes.  
  
"Mystique!" John shouted. But it wasn't Mystique. It looked like her; except for the tiny little detail that she wasn't blue anymore. She was tan.  
  
Mystique blinked. "I am not Mystique. My name is Raven. You, little mutant filth, have no idea what you are talking about."  
  
"Hello? I know you, you know me. You were blue, and you convinced me to go into the helicopter?" John urged.  
  
She looked confused.  
  
"Ignore them Experiment-I mean, Raven." The man corrected himself.  
  
So they brain washed Mystique or something, John thought.  
  
Oh damn, John's heart skipped a beat as a dreading thought came to mind, if Mystique couldn't get away and get experimented, how the hell are we going to get out? I'm sure Blaze doesn't want to get pregnant, and I don't want to do that because that's just really wrong and disgusting.  
  
"Pyro . . ." Blaze squeaked.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I really, really hope Iceman and Rogue get help soon." 


	8. Author's Note

This is an author's note. I had a review that asked why John having an Australian accent is bad. And no offense to any Aussies if that's what they thought because I don't think it's bad.  
  
So here's a little background story on John that I've picked up and used in my story. This should explain why. But I'm not exactly sure how it all went down, but this is the basic idea:  
  
John originally was born in Australian, so he had an Australian accent. He used to have a mom and a dad. I don't know much about the middle part, but I guess John got his fire powers, and his father wasn't exactly very fond of mutants. I'm pretty sure he burned his house down in the process of receiving his powers. I think that in that fire, John's mom died. The other story is that his dad, finding out that his son was a mutant, disowned him. But his mother still loved John and took care of him until her early death.  
  
Poor John.  
  
Anyway, he was discovered by Professor Xavier later on and asked if he wanted to live in the school. And he said yes. So he moved to America, and thinking of his dad, who abandoned his family, wanted to get rid of all trace of what may remind him of his dad. So he took speech therapy to get rid of the accent. But that accent resurfaces when he gets really mad.  
  
So that's why I wrote the accent in John's point of view as a bad thing, but really I sort of like the accent. So there's my very short author's note! 


	9. Meet Jubilee

28 reviews! Well, I put out an author's note . . . now for the real chapter! Reviews, please! I tried to buy the X-Men, but my $20 surprisingly wasn't enough . . . so for now I don't own 'em. I may not be able to update in a while, so read this chapter verrrryyy slllowwwly! ^_~  
  
* * *  
  
After getting lost many times, Bobby and Rogue finally figured their way out. Then they got lost again trying to get back to the new X-Men headquarters.  
  
"I'd never thought I'd say this, but I hate New York." Rogue said.  
  
"Ditto." Bobby replied.  
  
Both were under a lot of stress, and were getting rather annoyed.  
  
"God! If we don't find the headquarters soon, Blaze and John could be in big trouble!" Rogue yelled angrily.  
  
"Don't look at me! You should have memorized the way over!" Bobby scolded.  
  
"Why didn't you, Bobby?"  
  
"I think that's beside my point."  
  
"God! Ok, we shouldn't be fighting with each other, we should be working to find our way back and warn them." Rogue reasoned.  
  
"Yeah I guess you're right." Bobby mumbled.  
  
They walked slowly and silently for a while until Rogue bumped into an Asian woman with a yellow jacket. Rogue had been looking to the side, so she didn't see the woman. And when she bumped into the woman, her forehead collided with the woman's, causing Rogue to give her a zapping feeling, in other words taking her life force.  
  
The Asian winced at Rogue's touch, eyeing Rogue a little suspiciously and as if she'd seen her before. Rogue felt a pang of worry, but the woman said,  
  
"Wow, that's the biggest shock anyone's every given me. Are you all right kid?" The woman smiled casually, but her eyes darted to the other people around her nervously. It looked like her casualness was her acting.  
  
"Sorry." Rogue apologized sheepishly and then reached out her hand to help her up. But when her hands were aimed towards the woman, sparks, or . . . fireworks came out of her hand and towards the woman. The woman scowled and waved her hand through the air.  
  
The fireworks disappeared.  
  
Rogue stared at her hands and looked around desperately, hoping no one noticed. Fortunally, there weren't many people on the usually busy streets of New York, and whoever was walking were all talking on what looked like high tech versions of cell phones and did not notice the teenager send fireworks at someone.  
  
The woman grabbed Rogue's arm and gave her a stern "follow me" look.  
  
"Hey, let her go!" Bobby demanded, getting his hands ready to ice someone.  
  
"Wait Bobby." Rogue said. She was never able to shoot fireworks out . . . and the most recent person she touched was the Asian woman. So that means . . . she must be a mutant too!  
  
"I think we can trust her." Rogue said slowly.  
  
The woman smiled and led them to an apartment building nearby. They went into the elevator silently and got out the same way. Rogue knew for sure this woman was a mutant, but she was on her guard anyways, just in case. Rogue could see that Bobby was tensed up too.  
  
The woman took some keys out of her yellow jacket and opened the door. As she walked in, the large gold hoops in her ears bounced around with her.  
  
"Well, come in."  
  
Bobby and Rogue snapped out of their trance and stepped inside the room. It was a fairly large apartment, with a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and living room with a T.V.  
  
"Nice place." Bobby commented.  
  
"Thank you." She went over and locked the door. Bobby gulped, and Rogue winced.  
  
"Don't lock the door!" Bobby burst out.  
  
The woman smiled. "Don't worry, it's only so people can't disturb us when we're talking. You two are free to leave whenever you want. But . . . there's something I want to ask."  
  
"Wait us first. First of all, who are you?" Bobby demanded.  
  
"My name is Jubilation Lee, or as my X-Men comrades call me, Jubilee. The power that she let out, who I suspect is Marie, is my power. I can create fireworks."  
  
Rogue's eyes widened at the mention at her own name, but Bobby recognized the woman.  
  
"Wait; remember what the Professor was saying maybe 3 days before the battle?" Bobby's question was to Rogue.  
  
"No, what?"  
  
"He said that a new student would be coming soon, and her name is Jubilee. He said that we had better win that battle or there'd be no hope for new students like her and others." Bobby reminded her.  
  
Rogue's eyes sparkled with recognition. "Yeah! Now I remember!"  
  
Jubilee smiled.  
  
"So does that mean that the X-Men won, then?" Bobby asked.  
  
"We already know that we won, Bobby," Rogue pointed out, "remember they said that the raid at the mansion was how . . . how the Professor . . . how he died."  
  
"Yeah, he died trying to make this a better world for us." Jubilee's eyes were downcast and sad, but then it brightened up with confusion. "And I've seen you two before. You, you have the same power as Marie, and you look like her as a teenager, too. And you," Jubilee pointed to Bobby, "You look exactly like Bobby, or Iceman, her boyfriend. But . . . but you're dead!"  
  
"So I've heard." Bobby muttered.  
  
"We are Marie and Bobby. But we're from the past." Rogue said disturbingly cheerfully.  
  
Jubilee's mouth dropped.  
  
"Yeah, it's hard to take in, we're getting used to it ourselves." Bobby said sheepishly.  
  
"Listen; do you know where the X-Men headquarters is? We need to get there, like, right now!" Rogue urged.  
  
"Yeah, actually, I do. I'm in undercover, looking for young mutants and trying to get them to the H.Q. Follow me, I'll take you there."  
  
A few minutes later the three stepped out of Jubilee's apartment building and walked to a store called, "Medicines Galore." Rogue and Bobby looked at each other. They didn't even know what "Galore" meant.  
  
"This looks familiar . . ." Bobby commented.  
  
"That's because it's Scott's store. Not really his type of work, sure, but it pays for rent, and it's the perfect place for the X-Men, who aren't like Wolverine, to heal." Jubilee explained.  
  
"Yeah, if we looked at what we were leaving, we might have been able to find it again." Rogue muttered.  
  
Jubilee walked in, and the couple followed. She walked up to the clerk and smiled, tossing her black hair over her shoulder.  
  
"Can I have some of that new medicine, the X-llergy?" Jubilee asked innocently.  
  
The clerk smiled and waved his hand.  
  
Nothing happened. Rogue and Bobby looked around, confused.  
  
"I'm sorry, we don't have any on the shelves right now, but I believe we have some in the back. Why don't you follow me?" The clerk motioned for them to follow him.  
  
The three followed him through the door behind him, the back room. As they followed him in, the door closed by itself.  
  
"Welcome back . . . again, Jubilee." The clerk greeted her.  
  
"You too, Psych." Jubilee returned the greeting. "Your telekinesis has been improving."  
  
"Well, that's what you get when you're around a master such as Jean Gray." Psych replied. "Well, I believe you know where to go. Now I have to go convince people in the store that they did not see you walk in there." He left the room and closed the door. They heard the click of the lock behind them.  
  
"Help me move this." Jubilee said, pointing to a row of boxes. Bobby and Rogue obliged and together they were able to move the boxes aside, revealing an old rug. Jubilee removed the rug, causing dust to fly in the air around them, making Rogue and Bobby cough.  
  
Under the rug revealed a large secret trapdoor.  
  
"Old school trapdoor, nice." Bobby commented.  
  
But when Jubilee lifted it, it revealed a hollow space. They jumped in to find a series of numbers and buttons, like an elevator. Jubilee pressed a button that closed the trapdoor, and they heard the boxes stacking back on top of them.  
  
"Or not so old school." Bobby said.  
  
Jubilee pressed another button and they felt the elevator move down.  
  
"You know, I don't remember going out this way." Rogue said.  
  
"That's because you don't. This is how you go in, but going out is a whole different story." Jubilee explained.  
  
"Oh."  
  
The elevator came to a stop, and a door opened. And Rogue and Bobby found themselves inside the X-Men's headquarters. Again.  
  
Marie spotted them and jogged over. "Hello Jubes, what brings you here?"  
  
"These two got themselves lost. So I decided to show them the way back." Jubilee said. "Nice to see you again, Marie, an adult or . . . a teenager."  
  
Marie winced, "So I see you recognized them."  
  
"How could I not? Want to explain how they got here? I haven't asked them yet."  
  
"Um, right . . . KURT!" Marie yelled.  
  
A puff of blue smoke appeared beside Marie, and our favorite tattooed blue mutant appeared. "You called?"  
  
"Could you explain to Jubilee how these two came? I need to talk to them."  
  
Kurt nodded his head, and walked off, Jubilee following.  
  
"Now," Marie began, her attention now on Bobby and Rogue, "where's Liz and John? Did you get the information?"  
  
"John has the disks, and . . . those two got captured. Those mutant police people were waiting for us right outside the vent." Bobby explained.  
  
"Oh no." Marie put a hand to her mouth. "We must find them immediately. Let's just hope that they didn't see if they were bugged or not. I find that when people are busy with hating someone, they forget certain details such as finding bugs."  
  
Rogue looked at Bobby with a confused expression. Bobby explained, "Bugs, as in tracking stuff. Don't you watch spy movies?"  
  
"Sparky! Arcade! Get to work and track Blaze!" Marie barked at two nearby mutants on the computers.  
  
"Don't worry, we'll find them. And we'll save them." Marie reassured the couple. But they knew that in Marie's mind she was thinking, "I hope."  
  
* * *  
  
"God, you guys, you'd better hurry up." John muttered.  
  
Blaze had just been taken away to figure out if she was a mutant or not, which meant in other words: Torture her and see if her powers flare up as a pissed off instinct.  
  
* * *  
  
"Ahhh!" Blaze thought she would never stop screaming. Sure, the burning fire part didn't really bug her, being her power was fire, but she had to pretend to be afraid of it.  
  
But now they were dumping water on her! How evil is that! And it was freezing cold too!  
  
"C'mon Rogue . . . c'mon Bobby . . . get help soon!" Blaze murmured. The only reason she thought water as torture was because of her element. But knowing these government scientists, they would soon get very physical with the torture . . . and soon. 


	10. Torture and Blue Prints

33 reviews! Thank you all! *mental hug* Sorry for the long wait, had to work on other stories and with school coming soon and all. *weep* I own nothing, not even Jubilee, not even . . . well I do own Blaze, so . . . oh forget it.  
  
* * *  
  
"Ahh!" Blaze fell to the floor hard as she felt the harsh lashes of the whip. It was no wonder mutants hate people so much! She seriously didn't know why the X-Men tried to go peacefully, if the "innocent" people whose deaths they're trying to prevent were like this, Blaze seriously disagreed.  
  
"Will you give up now, filth?" her tormenter mocked.  
  
"Damn . . . you . . ." Blaze groaned as she tried to pick herself up. Why not use her powers? At least she could enjoy watching this evil person burn . . . just like normal people like watching mutants burn.  
  
"Down, MUTT!" The man shoved her against the wall, causing Blaze's arm to get pierced by a loose sharp rock on the wall.  
  
"AHHH!" Blaze tried her best not to scream, but she couldn't, the pain was so bad. And what's worse was that she couldn't use her powers, or they'll have an advantage over her.  
  
Blood began to pour from her arm, and Blaze clutched it tightly, trying to make the blood stop. But instead her hands became soaked with her own blood, and the pain wasn't helping much. She wasn't the type to cry, but if any was a time, this was one. In fact, Blaze couldn't remember ever crying since the day her parents disowned her. Since that day, Blaze hardened her heart and didn't let anyone cause her pain.  
  
"What? Too feeling less to cry, little girl?" The tormentor mocked, "But I'm sure you have cried once before, when your mommy and daddy threw you out when they found out you were a mutt . . . a abomination of their own flesh and blood."  
  
Blaze's heart stopped when this cruel man mocked her. How dare he . . . rage boiled inside Blaze's heart, and flames were creeping up in her eyes.  
  
And she made a perhaps stupid move. Despite the pain she was feeling, Blaze threw herself at the man in rage, kicking and punching all the vulnerable parts of a guy, which only ticked him off, causing Blaze to be slammed into a wall, causing her to break her right arm.  
  
The man approached her viciously, practically spitting on her in disgust as she curled up in that corner, trying hard not to cry and cradling her broken arm. Great. Torture, then breeding a super species. All in a days work for a mutant. Blaze thought bitterly.  
  
"That'll teach you to never ever be born." He spat.  
  
* * *  
  
"What the heck is taking so long?!" Bobby demanded. "This is supposed to be the future, right? So doesn't that mean the technology's supposed to be better?! So why's it taking so long to find my friends?!"  
  
"Bobby, calm down." Both Maries said at the same time.  
  
"CALM DOWN?! HOW DO I CALM DOWN WHEN MY BEST FRIEND COULD BE DEAD FOR ALL I KNOW?!"  
  
Marie looked shocked. "You're best friend? But he murders you, Bobby, how can you still count him even as a friend?"  
  
"He will in the future. But what if this . . . this whole future adventure thing . . . changes him? How do I even know that he'll do it now?" Bobby demanded. "Besides, I . . . I never really hated him. So I'm guessing Future Bobby doesn't tell you how he really felt about Pyro, huh?"  
  
"Well, it's not like I pushed it." Marie sniffed. "Besides, do you know how hard and lonely it's been for me without him?!"  
  
"Well, just to let you know, I did hate him for a while, but then I couldn't, okay? He's been my best friend ever since he arrived at Xavier's, and he will always, in some distant part of him, be my friend. And you had better listen, because I don't usually get all this gushy so you'd better pay attention because I'm only saying this once!" Bobby said all this in one breath.  
  
"Wow." Marie said.  
  
"Marie! We have a reading on Blaze's signal!" Sparky announced.  
  
"Excellent, how many X-Men do we have available?"  
  
"It's a heavily guarded fortress, so . . . not enough."  
  
"But who knows what they're doing to them now! Blaze is one of your people, and if John dies who knows what could happen to this future?" Rogue said. "We have to go in now!"  
  
Marie shook her head. "If Pyro dies the future would be much brighter. I'm sorry about Blaze, but I just can't risk losing more X-Men. Logan will be contacted immediately, and others will come as soon as they can, but with our small group right now there's no way."  
  
"Then have us go!" Bobby suggested. "Give us the map to the place and we'll break in. Can't be as bad as the danger room or when we went into Stryker's complex."  
  
Bobby imagined arguing, he imagined conflict, but he never imagined a straight out no.  
  
"No."  
  
"But-"  
  
"This is not debatable. Do you realize that if you die, this world is over? That without a Bobby and a Marie some things would not be possible? No way. You're staying here."  
  
And with that Marie left.  
  
Bobby groaned. "For all we know, they could be dead."  
  
* * *  
  
Blaze wasn't dead, but she might as well be, for she was so hurt she couldn't fight anymore. Finally, the guy gave up on making her show her powers, saying that they'll have another "session" tomorrow. She was thrown into a cold stone cell with John, who was pacing around.  
  
John's eyes widened in shock as he saw the condition Blaze was in.  
  
"Are you okay?" John was shocked. He had never seen someone treat a mutant this bad!  
  
"Do I LOOK okay?" Blaze managed to stutter through bits of blood that spit out of her mouth.  
  
There was one stone bench (great living conditions) in the cell, and John helped her sit down. Blaze managed a grateful smile and leaned back on the wall.  
  
"I can't keep this up much longer, Pyro." Blaze said. "I have a feeling that once they confirm me as a mutant they'll go on to doing the thing, and since I'm obviously not one, I'm afraid they'll keep on doing this until I die."  
  
A shiver went down John's spine. The worst they did to him was give him a sore neck and back because of being strapped up, and for causing him utter boredom.  
  
Looking at Blaze's condition really scared Pyro. She was in such a bad shape he thought that if she had to endure maybe another half hour of that torture she'd be dead. He didn't want her to die, Pyro realized.  
  
"It's okay. They'll find a way to get us out . . . somehow." John tried to comfort her.  
  
* * *  
  
Bobby was whispering something in Rogue's ear that no one else could hear, nor did anyone pay attention to the teenagers. Rogue nodded and sighed. She took both gloves off and handed them to Bobby, being very careful not to touch her boyfriend's skin.  
  
Then she approached the two mutants working hard at the computers.  
  
"Listen; could you do me a favor? Could you show me the map to where Blaze and John are?" Rogue asked in her best flirty voice.  
  
But the guy just frowned at her and said, "Sorry, miss, can't. Now go back and be patient."  
  
Rogue sighed. Why does it always come to this? She reached her arms out and touched both men's bare necks, causing them to fall limp. She suddenly felt a spasm of pain as both men's cries filled her mind, and she felt a strange surge of power. She had never absorbed two mutants at once before.  
  
She motioned to Bobby to come over, and then suddenly sparks flew out of her fingers towards Bobby! Bobby, with his athletic reflexes, was able to dodge the spark in time.  
  
"Careful with that!" Bobby complained.  
  
"Sorry." Rogue apologized with a grin.  
  
Bobby looked at the computer in front of him with all the complicated series of numbers. He was confused.  
  
"Um . . . how are we going to find the map?" Bobby asked.  
  
"No problem, we'll just have to access the main computer files on her trackers, and find it." Rogue said, as she started typing rapidly.  
  
"Must be Arcade's super-genius powers." Bobby muttered.  
  
After many clicks of the keyboard, Rogue found the map to their location. She clicked on another icon with the mouse and the map started printing. She also found the schematics for the blue prints of the complex.  
  
"Whoa, with all this stuff they could have taken this fortress out years ago." Rogue murmured.  
  
"Maybe they just got it." Bobby suggested.  
  
"Or there's something else going on here. They're probably afraid . . . or there's some different reason."  
  
"Hmm." Bobby picked up the freshly-printed maps and blue prints. "We'll worry about that later. For now . . . we have some pyromaniacs to save.  
  
* * *  
  
I'm really sorry I wasn't able to actually get them into the rescuing part of it in this chapter . . . I had really wanted to upload a chapter before school, since I wouldn't be able to update for a little while. 


	11. Getting Lost

Yea! 43 reviews! Thanks to everyone who reviewed. *hugs all reviewers* I'm happy, and that's perfect since I had a boring week of school and tiring soccer practices and a game! But HA HA HA we won 8 to 1! Sorry. Anyway, enough blabbing about me, I'm going to do this:  
  
Obiwanfan: Hello again, thanks for reviewing my stories so much! ^_^ Pyro doesn't get tortured because they already know he's a mutant, and they don't want to damage their "Subject #2" any more than they have to. Lucky John although he'd probably die of boredom and worry, though.  
  
Alpha: Oh, was that Jubilee there? I've only seen X2 once and X1 three times, and I didn't recognize Jubilee there so bear with me, especially since she never revealed her power in the movie, so I didn't know. Thanks for pointing it out though.  
  
Now on with the chapter!  
  
* * *  
  
"I don't know Bobby, this doesn't seem right."  
  
"C'mon Rogue, you're the one who printed the map out, this should be the right way!" Bobby argued.  
  
"Wait a minute . . ." Rogue snatched the map away from Bobby and flipped it. "You're reading the map upside down!"  
  
* * *  
  
Over with Pyro and Blaze, things were not much better. Pyro just got a nosebleed, and Blaze was still in pain. The guards had brought stuff for them to eat, but it was nothing but stale bread and water.  
  
"When we get out of here . . ." Blaze began,  
  
"If we get out of here," Pyro muttered.  
  
". . . remind me to never ever tease Cyclops about his cooking. I'd eating his cooking for a month than this." Blaze spat.  
  
"I'd eat anything as long as it came with a ticket away from this place." Pyro added.  
  
"I don't think they supply tickets," Blaze muttered.  
  
Silence came over them for a minute, and John shivered. He was a firestarter, he was generally warmer than a regular person, like how Bobby's colder, but he was feeling very cold in this damp, stone cell. He couldn't imagine how bad it must be for Liz: she was beat up, losing more blood by the hour, AND the dampness of the cell must be torture.  
  
"Tell me about your life," Blaze said suddenly.  
  
John was surprised, "What?"  
  
"Your life. In the past, where things were better, where we wouldn't have to put up with this," Blaze explained.  
  
"Oh." John fidgeted uncomfortably. He never liked talking about his past. His life in Australia . . . he hadn't even talked to Bobby about it, and Bobby didn't push it.  
  
"Well, the past wasn't that much better, but it's probably heaven to you, especially compared to this. Although there were evil people who did things like what they're doing to us now. Wolverine went through it, this guy named Stryker kidnapped him and preformed experiments on him, giving him the adamantium claws he has now.  
  
"Stryker disappeared when the lake dam was broken, and we all got away. I think Stryker died because we hadn't heard from him ever since." John finished.  
  
"Sounds like these guys." Blaze commented, and then stopped because she was starting to cough up more blood.  
  
* * *  
  
"Great, Bobby! Now we have to walk all the way back across town!" Rogue complained.  
  
"Sorry! Can't a guy make a mistake?"  
  
"Not when his friends are on the line!"  
  
"Rogue, arguing isn't going to do us any good." Bobby tried.  
  
"You're right."  
  
"I am?"  
  
"Yeah, I have learned that arguing and Bobby navigating does no good, so now we'll follow me." Rouge declared.  
  
"Fine by me." Bobby said sheepishly, embarrassed for getting them so far off track.  
  
Rogue pointed to the right. "First of all we have to get to the edge of the city, close to the outskirts." But then a spark came out of her finger, her zapping powers still in effect. "Oops."  
  
* * *  
  
Marie came back into the room where she left the two teenagers from the past and found instead her Arcade and Sparky unconscious, and slumped in their chairs. Several veins popped out on their faces, and the Bobby and Marie of the past were gone.  
  
She felt a cold chill down her spine and her eyes quickly scanned the computer. The two at their age were still amateur X-Men, not that experienced, and they had kept what they were looking at on the monitor.  
  
The older woman's eyes widened as she saw that the last thing that had been searched was directions to the compound where Blaze and Pyro were being held, and its blue prints.  
  
"Shoot!" Marie cursed.  
  
* * *  
  
The teenage mutant couple walked the nearly empty streets of New York for a while, still trying to figure out their way around. Bobby had grown up in Boston, and had rarely ever visited New York City, even if the Institute was in New York. Rogue was from the South, and had never seen anywhere else of New York except for the countryside the Institute was at. So they had some troubles finding certain streets and such.  
  
Well, actually a lot of troubles.  
  
"This is Broadway, Rogue, not Main Street!" Bobby pointed out."  
  
"I know, Bobby! Um . . . we can get to Main Street by going this way." Rogue corrected herself.  
  
"Let's hope." Bobby muttered.  
  
(A/N: I have never been to New York, so I'm not sure if those are real streets or if you can get to "Main Street" from Broadway, so ignore that if I'm wrong!)  
  
* * *  
  
Now for some reason it was getting colder. John shivered and rubbed his arms, for he was only wearing cargo pants and a T-Shirt.  
  
Blaze was especially miserable, even though she had long sleeves on, the bleeding stained her cloths and the material was thin.  
  
John cursed. "If we don't get out of here soon, we're going to freeze to death!"  
  
"Don't be so negative." Blaze scolded.  
  
"How can you say something like that when you're bleeding to death and I'm freezing to death?!" John demanded.  
  
"I don't know, it's just fun to tease you." Blaze said casually, but John wasn't sure if she was trying to joke or not.  
  
"Right." John said uncertainly. "God, it's COLD! Hey! You scientist people! You could at least install a heater in here! Stupid people, they took my lighter . . . if I had it I could be warm in one second."  
  
Suddenly, a security guard came in, keeping a hand gun pointed at John. Blaze felt insulted. It was like she posed no threat. But then . . . she was bleeding everywhere.  
  
"You!" The guard called, pointing to Blaze, "You're coming with me."  
  
* * *  
  
Bobby and Rogue were on the right track (finally) and getting closer to their original destination: the fortress.  
  
"That's the fortress?" Bobby asked skeptically.  
  
"It should be, X marks the spot," Rogue confirmed, although her voice sounded confused.  
  
"But it's . . . a warehouse!" Bobby argued.  
  
It was a warehouse . . . an old on at that. It was rickety and had windows hanging off edge. It looked like it could collapse any second.  
  
"Well . . . let's find a door." Rogue suggested.  
  
They combed around the warehouse and finally found one. Rogue tried to open it, but it was locked. So Bobby tried to pull it. That didn't work. Then the couple tried slamming against the door. That didn't work either. Finally, Bobby said,  
  
"Guess this is what powers are for."  
  
Iceman froze the door and then kicked it hard, hard enough so the door shattered into little pieces of ice, and the doorway was open.  
  
"Go Bobby!" Rogue cheered. "C'mon, let's go save them!"  
  
Unfortunally for Rogue and Bobby, in order to save their friends they'll have to take a test, and they have to use their powers to its very limits if they want to succeed.  
  
To Be Continued . . .  
  
* * *  
  
I'm sorry to just leave it off like that, I will try and update soon! 


	12. Search and Rescue

Wow! 0_0 52 reviews! I'm at the halfway mark to 100! Thank you all so much for reviewing, it means a lot! And to all you people out there who need to update THEIR stories (you know who you are) please don't be like me and do it soon! ^_^ Sorry it took so long to update! Review please, and pray for John, who finally gets tortured too after much nagging from Obiwanfan. Of course, it's a more . . . erm . . . elemental kind of torture. ^_^ Reviews please!  
  
* * *  
  
John was utterly bored. He was thinking about what they were going to do with Liz and how the heck he was going to get out of there!  
  
"God, you'd have thought that in the future the X-Men would be able to find us by now." John muttered, remembering back when he was at the mansion and all the advanced technology that the X-Men possessed.  
  
Suddenly, the door opened again. John's eyes flashed and he put his hands in his pockets on instinct. But then he remembered that he didn't have his lighter.  
  
The same guard that took away Blaze entered the room, gun pointed directly at John's head.  
  
"You're to come with me, and don't try any funny stuff." The guard warned.  
  
Don't try any funny stuff? What an oldie. John thought.  
  
"Like I could." John retorted sarcastically.  
  
The guard walked behind John and told him to walk. Pyro could feel the cold metal of the gun on his head. A cold shiver went up his spine as he followed the guard's instructions and walked up. What did they have planned for him?  
  
* * *  
  
Bobby and Rogue walked into the room through doorframe. Bobby looked back at the lack of a door and said, "I think after we're done they're going to need some major repairs."  
  
Rogue sighed. "Not that I can do much." Rogue pointed her finger at a random way and nothing happened. "The powers I absorbed from Sparky faded. They're gone."  
  
"Well you could knock some guards out," Bobby pointed out, "that would help a lot."  
  
"Good point." Rogue smiled and took off her gloves, "Just don't touch me."  
  
* * *  
  
Blaze groaned as someone kicked her in the ribs. Her side felt like needles were attacking it. She didn't think she could take much more of this.  
  
"Why won't you just GIVE UP?" The man yelled in frustration and took it out on Blaze's head.  
  
"Ahh!" Her head felt like it was being split open, and she could taste the fresh blood coming down from the wound on her forehead.  
  
And Blaze said the only thing anyone would say to such a cruel person.  
  
"Go to hell!"  
  
* * *  
  
John, following the guard's instructions reluctantly and was soon lead to a laboratory-looking area.  
  
"Where am I?" He asked, eyeing the gigantic tank in front of him.  
  
"Personally, Boss is getting tired of that girl. He's getting bored of her, and her loyalty antics." The guard said.  
  
"You know, where I come from, loyalty's a treasured trait." John spat.  
  
"That is true here as well, but it does not apply to mutants." The guard growled, "Boss enjoys seeing the girl cringe, but frankly, it doesn't seem like she's going to show her powers anytime soon. And since we already know of your gene status . . . let's just say the boss wants some new entertainment." The guard's lips curled in a cruel smile. Then he pushed John into another guard, who handcuffed John.  
  
"In this, nature's about to intervene."  
  
Suddenly, John got it. He suddenly started struggling. There was no way they were going to fill that tank up with water . . . with HIM in it! If there was the one thing he hated in the world it was water! He kicked suddenly, hitting the guard holding him with full force. If it were anybody else it should have knocked the wind of them, but this guy didn't even flinch.  
  
The guard who had taken him there smirked. "Really, firestarter, do you really think we're that stupid as to not expect something like that? This guard has abs of steel . . . and many other parts of him. Observe."  
  
The guard holding him suddenly had steel armor covering his body! John yelped in surprise and instinctively tried to get away.  
  
"Do not try to escape. It is pointless." The steel man said in a monotone Russian accent.  
  
"Listen, dude, you don't want to do this." John tried.  
  
"He won't listen to you, thanks to William Stryker." The guard laughed. "The great man died, but his legacy carried on as we improved his serum. Now it's practically flawless!"  
  
"Legacy? You call that a legacy? I call it evil." John sneered.  
  
"Now why would we listen to you, since you just might die? We're going to keep you in there until the brink of death, then remove the water. But if it kills you on accident, oh well! We can always find another mutant to breed with the girl."  
  
John called the guard a name that he would never ever say in front of Professor Xavier.  
  
But the guard merely ignored him and ordered the steel man to strap him in. He practically carried John into the tank. The floor raised itself up and John's legs and arms were strapped in hard core steel. Then John was forced to watch hopelessly as the steel man was carried to the ground.  
  
And then, John heard a noise above his head. He looked up and saw the entire roof of the tank open up! Water splashed onto his raised face, getting some into his nose. John gagged for a moment, unable to get a breath of air. Finally he was able to tilt his head to an angle where no water could get onto his face. But then he watched as the tank was quickly getting filled up with water. So he thought the only thought someone could think at a time like this.  
  
Why me?  
  
* * *  
  
Rogue and Bobby stayed into the safety of the dark corners as they crept through the warehouse. And they also discovered a slight problem in their rescuing plans: the warehouse was huge. Sure, they had blueprints, but it doesn't make the place any smaller. And they still had no idea what room the two Pyros were.  
  
The couple approached a large gate. They made sure no one else but the guard was there, and then stepped out of the shadows. Bobby, out of the corner of his eye, noticed a security camera. He casually froze it.  
  
The guard there was sleeping on the job ("Tsk tsk," Rogue said.) so Rogue just touched his bare neck briefly to make sure he didn't wake up. Bobby was fiddling around with the various buttons and switches on the dashboard.  
  
"I don't understand this!" Bobby groaned in frustration. "Why can't it have a label that says, 'Open gate' on it like other sensible buttons?"  
  
Rogue suddenly felt a slight spasm of pain in her brain, and suddenly she was seeing flashes of colors and rows of buttons. But slowly the other colors faded and only one was in crystal clear outline. Rogue snapped out of it and pointed to the button off to the right.  
  
"Press that one," Rogue instructed.  
  
Bobby looked at his girlfriend in confusion. "What?"  
  
"Press it." Rogue insisted.  
  
Bobby shrugged and pressed it. To his surprise the gate opened!  
  
"Whoa. How'd you know that?" Bobby asked.  
  
Rogue thought over that for a moment before answering. "I'm not sure. I absorbed that guard and then when you were practically asking which button would open it I got a flash of the right button."  
  
Bobby absorbed that. "Well, maybe your powers are advancing, like they should be."  
  
Rogue frowned. "But if they were advancing I was hoping that I could touch someone without hurting them . . ."  
  
"Let's focus on trying to save the two first, and then we'll worry about that." Bobby suggested, "Let's go."  
  
Once the two entered through the gate it closed again by its own accord.  
  
* * *  
  
Pyro was never a religious person, but at this moment he prayed to whatever gods were out there to help him get out of here. By now the water had crept up to his neck, and the rough splashes from the water above now managed to nearly choke John to death with water in his throat and nose. The water was also icy cold, and if he didn't drown, he'd freeze to death.  
  
And it was rapidly rising as well. John could seriously not understand how anyone could take pleasure into watching someone drown. Not like they could see him through all the thick glass anyway.  
  
"Crap." John started to say but it was soon turned into an indistinguishable word as the water rose to his mouth.  
  
John breathed a long deep breath of air through his nose, somehow knowing it'd be his last. Then he felt the water go up to his nose. He held his breath as long as he could, and was still holding it as he felt his closed eyelids get surrounded by ice cold water. Soon enough, his entire head was sunk beneath the water. He felt the tug of incoming water stop, and he instinctively pulled on his steel bounds, desperately trying to reach the surface.  
  
Unfortuanlly for Pyro, this only took out more of his strength, and soon he felt the last breath of oxygen in his lungs go out, and his flailing arms and legs stopped moving. John Allerdyce's heart beats slowly became slower, and slower . . .  
  
* * *  
  
"Damn! We'll never find them!" Rogue exclaimed. She had tried searching the mind of the guard again, but apparently the guard knew nothing of their friend's location.  
  
As they walked through the endless corridors, Rogue felt a strong arm wrap itself around her neck and picked her up.  
  
"Explain your intrusion," The big man said in a Russian accent.  
  
Bobby's resolve face came on and he froze the man's legs to the ground. "Now Rogue!"  
  
While the Russian man was distracted, Rogue wriggled a hand out and touched his face. The man struggled as his life force was sucked out. He fell limp to the ground, Rogue landing on top of him.  
  
Rogue felt that spasm of pain again, then grabbed her boyfriend's hand. "Let's go!"  
  
Together they ran to their closest destination: the torture chamber, where Blaze is held. They ran through the stealth of the shadows, but since they took no precaution with their speed, Bobby was forced to freeze a couple of people who spotted them.  
  
Finally, they were able to find the place. Bobby tried freezing the door and kicking it open, but it was steel and it was harder, although he did weaken the protection the door held. Rogue, not quite knowing what she was doing, kicked the door and the entire door, along with the doorframe, was kicked open.  
  
Bobby looked at Rogue wide-mouthed. "Since when were you that strong?!"  
  
Rogue was confused as well. "I don't know . . . but I think the Russian guy I absorbed is a mutant!"  
  
"A mutant?" Bobby exclaimed, "But people in this time hate mutants!"  
  
But Rogue never got to answer, since they were approached by the large buff man inside the dark, damp chamber.  
  
"Hey! You're not authorized to-" The man began to say before Bobby froze him.  
  
Rogue rushed over to a figure sprawled on the ground. She slowly turned the person around, only to be revealed as Blaze. But her face was filthy and bloody, and she was in great pain.  
  
"Are you okay?" Rogue asked.  
  
"Does-uh-does it look like it?" Blaze said while trying to ignore the pain coming from her broken arm. "My arm's broken."  
  
"C'mon, we have to go save John." Bobby said, as he and Rogue supported Blaze.  
  
"Can you run?" Bobby asked Blaze. The girl shook her head no.  
  
"What are we going to do?" Rogue asked.  
  
"You have the strength of that guy, right? You carry her and run at the same time." Bobby suggested.  
  
So Rogue ended up holding Blaze and running at top speed towards the laboratory chamber where John was being held.  
  
To their surprise, they didn't meet up with much resistance on the way to the laboratory. What they found was that most of the guards were IN the laboratory.  
  
Rogue put Blaze down in a corner, hoping that she could help herself with her firestarter powers. Then, as the adrenaline pumped throughout her body, she felt her flesh being covered up with steel plates.  
  
Bobby absorbed their situation in. Then he noticed a big tank full of water. As he squinted, he thought he saw a still dark figure inside the tank. Oh my god! He thought, John!  
  
"Rogue, crack open the tank!" Bobby cried.  
  
Rogue didn't think twice as she charged at the water tank and broke a hole in it. Water began to gush out of the hole, but then the intensity of the water caused the hole to become greater and Rogue and Bobby were both thrown out onto the wall hard. Bobby took more of a blow since he wasn't protected by steel. The rest of the scientists and guards were thrown unconscious. Blaze, anticipating this as soon as Rogue began to charge the tank, grabbed onto a pipe for dear life.  
  
Soon the rush of water was over, and Bobby and Rogue were thrown onto the floor. Blaze let go of the pipe with a sigh and repressed tears, for the water made all of her fresh cuts sting terribly. And poor John was still hanging high up on the tank, still not moving.  
  
Rogue was the first to recover. She went onto the damp platform and ordered it to move up. It did, and it brought her straight to John. Using her strength, she broke his shackles. He fell limp onto the platform as Rogue ordered it to begin its descent downwards.  
  
She carried Pyro out of the large hole and over to Iceman.  
  
"Is he . . . dead?" Bobby finally managed to choke out.  
  
"I . . . I don't know."  
  
* * *  
  
Hey everybody! Like that chapter? I know, it was really long . . . actually there's more to this, but I felt that it was way too long so I cut it off right here. I know . . . I'm evil . . . please review! 


	13. Miss Marvel

Yay! 59 reviews! Only one more till 60! Oh, I think I'm turning into a reviewholic. Is that even a word? Oh well. Anyways, I don't own any characters in X-Men besides Blaze and the plot, which is 100% original. I think. You'll see what I meant last chapter about cutting it off so it wasn't as long. Anyways, here's the chapter!  
  
* * *  
  
"He can't be dead!" Bobby said, shaking his head, "John just doesn't die. Seriously, I've tried a lot." His heart felt heavy and downtrodden, like someone had stomped on it repeatedly.  
  
Rogue gently put John down and put a steel hand over his mouth. "I don't feel any air coming from his nose or mouth!"  
  
"That's because your hands are steel!" Bobby snapped. Rogue winced, and her boyfriend's expression softened.  
  
"Sorry, Rogue, it's just . . ."  
  
"I know, Bobby, I know." Rogue replied. "He was my friend too."  
  
"Why are you all acting like he's dead?" Rogue and Bobby jumped when they heard a familiar voice. Blaze was sitting next to John, looking at them crossly. She had somehow crawled over to them without them noticing.  
  
"What are you talking about? He's not moving, or breathing!" Rogue suddenly burst out sobbing.  
  
"No he isn't." Blaze insisted.  
  
"How do you figure that?" Bobby asked.  
  
"His flame. Every pyro has a flame in his or her heart. I can feel his flame still burning, though it's very weak. Someone's going to have to perform CPR right now!" Blaze instructed.  
  
Rogue and Bobby looked at each other.  
  
"Don't look at me," Rogue said, "John's my friend, but I don't know how to do CPR."  
  
"Ditto." Bobby said sadly. "I guess we'll have to try . . ."  
  
"I know how," Blaze said, "I can do it. Better someone who knows how to do it than someone guessing how." Then Blaze instructed Bobby how to push on his heart. She couldn't do it herself because of her broken arm.  
  
"One, two three . . ." Blaze sucked in air and pressed her lips against John's, giving him air. They repeatedly did it, with a worried Rogue hovering over, until John emitted a choking noise and he spit out water from his mouth.  
  
"Yes!" Rogue cheered.  
  
John, clutching his chest, slowly sat up and looked at the three in confusion. Then seeming to realize where he was, he said angrily,  
  
"What the hell took you guys so long?!"  
  
"Hey, we just saved your life, dude. Be happy you're even alive at all!" Bobby snapped angrily.  
  
"Speaking of which, why am I still alive?" John asked.  
  
"The water was extremely cold, and your body preserved its warmth and kept it operating for maybe about two hours. The cold water actually helped keep you alive." Blaze explained.  
  
John looked at her for a while. "And another thing . . . did I dream that you were kissing me?!"  
  
Blaze nodded. "Well, giving you CPR."  
  
"Oh . . . when I was unconscious? Oh . . . that's really creepy." And John got a slap on the face for that.  
  
"Like I had a choice. It's not like I can let a fellow mutant die without trying to save them." Blaze said stiffly. "Be happy."  
  
"Ok, everybody, let's get out of here before someone else comes attack us!" Rogue said urgently.  
  
"Wait!" John gasped.  
  
"What now?" Bobby asked.  
  
"The disks. They were in my pocket, but they took my lighter, which was in my pocket too, and we have to get those back! The whole reason we got into this mess was because of those disks, and I'm not going to be nearly drowned for nothing! And Blaze was tortured; we need to get those disks!" John exclaimed.  
  
"Wow. John's got a brain. Let's have cake afterwards!" Bobby teased.  
  
"Shut it." John mumbled. He stood up and helped Blaze stand up. "Can you walk?"  
  
Blaze still could not.  
  
"Listen, that Russian guy's strength's going to come in handy when we're confronted by guards. John, since you don't have your lighter. . .can you carry Blaze?" Rogue asked.  
  
John shrugged. "Sure."  
  
So Rogue and Bobby are the cavalry and John and Blaze are the . . . angry mob of villagers? Anyway, using the blue prints, they headed to the main computer system, where the disks most likely are, and where they can destroy the fortress for good.  
  
They suddenly reached a dead end.  
  
"What? I don't get it! The blue prints show a door right here. . ." Bobby said, looking at his map again.  
  
"M.H.U." Blaze said weakly. Suddenly, something sizzled, and a door appeared in front of them.  
  
"M.H.U.?" John asked.  
  
"Mutant Haters United." Blaze explained. "My dad, being the president, started it." Her head felt faint, and the pain wasn't going away.  
  
John glanced at the girl in his arms worriedly. "We'd better hurry. I think she's losing a lot of blood," He stared pointedly at the little splotches of blood along the way they'd run.  
  
Rogue opened the door with her super-strength and the gang proceeded into a . . . big empty cold room? There was a door at the far end of the room, but over wise it was empty.  
  
"This doesn't feel right," Bobby commented.  
  
Rogue had to agree with him. She felt a shiver go down her spine as she cautiously walked onto the cold grey floor.  
  
"Not so fast." A cold feminine voice said. The group huddled together as they looked around franticly. Where was the voice coming from?!  
  
"Up here, fools." They glanced up and saw a teenage girl flying above them. "I've been waiting for you. For a fight. Who will challenge me?" The girl flew down and touched the concrete ground. Her eyes flashed green.  
  
"Who are you?" John asked boldly.  
  
"I am called Miss Marvel, and I can guarantee you that neither of you will stand a chance against me, especially . . ." Miss Marvel's sharp cold eyes flashed to Blaze and John, ". . . especially not you two, that girl looks pathetic, and the boy helping the weak. This is weakness."  
  
"Says who?" Rogue asked, outraged.  
  
"Says the people who rule this country." Miss Marvel said in an almost hypnotic voice.  
  
"That's it! I challenge you! But, my friends get to move on without me first. If I win, you let me go on and let me and my friends go back undisturbed by you." Rogue said.  
  
"And if I win, you and your friends are going to be . . . educated. Agreed?" Miss Marvel set down her own bet.  
  
"Agreed."  
  
"Rogue . . ." Bobby trailed off, "good luck." He gently kissed her on the lips, breaking it off just as the side effects of her power began to surface. Then he and the rest of them walked through the door.  
  
"This should be fun." Miss Marvel said excitedly, rubbing her hands together.  
  
* * *  
  
Bobby, John, and Blaze hurried as fast as they could to the main computer system. Finally they made it. Bobby froze the control panel and destroyed it, causing a scientist to come out and try to address the problem. John punched him in the face hard.  
  
"That's for all the mutants you've wronged." John hissed before stepping on the man and walking in, still carrying Blaze. Bobby followed John.  
  
"Bobby! Freeze!" John barked.  
  
Bobby froze the 5 scientists there by their feet.  
  
John put Blaze in a comfy black swivel chair and approached one. "Where's the disk, old man? And my lighter?"  
  
"Subject #2, don't do this-" The man begged, but he only got John's hands slowly choking him using his own tie. He gasped for air and his face started turning purple.  
  
"I have a name." John snarled. But then, a hand grabbed John's hand away from the scientist. It was Bobby.  
  
Bobby's icy blue eyes stared deeply into John's now fired up red ones. "Calm down dude. We won't get any info out of him if he's dead."  
  
The insane red flame in John's eyes cooled down, and his eyes returned to their usual brown again. "Fine." He closed his eyes and let Bobby take over the interrogating. But John had done his job. The scientist was now scared out of his wits and willing to answer Bobby's questions.  
  
"Do you know of a disk that was taken from my friend there?" Bobby asked.  
  
"And my lighter!" John interrupted.  
  
"That too."  
  
The man nodded vigorously.  
  
"Where is it?"  
  
The man shakily pointed to a steel cabinet. Bobby told John to watch the man while he went to find it. He created us in the edges of the place where it would open. He created more and more ice on that area until it was forced to pop open.  
  
"Just like a pop tart." Bobby smiled.  
  
He found the disks and put it in his pocket. After a moment's hesitation he took John's lighter too. Bobby walked over to the Pyro and the terrified scientist. He threw the lighter at John. His friend caught it graciously.  
  
"Thanks, man." John said.  
  
"No problem." Then he walked over to Blaze, who was busy typing with her one good arm. John followed.  
  
"What are you doing?" John asked.  
  
"I'm sending a virus on the network, so they can't access any of their files after I'm through. Oh, and I'm getting rid of all power in all of their bases, especially this one. They might not have power for years when I'm done." Blaze explained.  
  
"Why not just blow the whole facility up?" John asked, "That way you're rid of them for good."  
  
Blaze was silent for a moment, and then she turned her head and looked at John.  
  
"Because we're not like them, people who love causing pain and watching people go through it. There may be innocent people in here forced to work for the government, we do not know. So instead of taking away many lives, we stop what they do, but not the people themselves, because no matter how evil they are or how wrong their purpose is, they probably have family too, or people who shall mourn for them. So we only kill when it's absolutely necessary, but no more. That's what separates them from us."  
  
After that speech, Blaze blushed and went back to her work, which was slow because of the absence of her over arm.  
  
"I wonder how Rogue is doing." John wondered.  
  
* * *  
  
"Ow! That wasn't fair!" Rogue complained as Miss Marvel circled around her in the air and kicked her head.  
  
"Anything's fair here, hon." Miss Marvel said as she aimed another kick. But Rogue was ready this time. She held out a steel arm and yanked down Miss Marvel by her leg.  
  
"Ah!" Miss Marvel shrieked as she fell down hard onto the concrete floor. Rogue used her super-strength to throw Miss Marvel into the wall. The wall cracked when Miss Marvel impacted with it.  
  
Miss Marvel let out a string of curse words.  
  
"You can talk the bad guy talk all right, but you can't fight like one!" Rogue said as she charged towards what looked like a defenseless fighter. But Miss Marvel counteracted Rogue by throwing her against the wall!  
  
"Whoa . . . how'd you get so strong?!" Rogue demanded.  
  
"You should have done your homework. I can fly AND have super strength. I really should save you for boss, but it'll be so much sweeter if I killed you myself!" With that Miss Marvel grabbed Rogue from behind and started choking her. The steel plates were protecting Rogue for now, but Rogue could feel the power edging away from her.  
  
No! Not now! Rogue pleaded. But the powers of the Russian mutant were slipping out of her grasp.  
  
But Rogue had one more card to play. She took off the steel on her hand, revealing bare skin. She managed to move her arm back just enough to touch Miss Marvel's face.  
  
"Ahhhh!" The girl screamed. She let go instantly of Rogue, holding her head and screaming like no tomorrow. In agony and instinct, Miss Marvel started to rise up into the air, Rogue still holding on. But then Rogue slipped off and un-steeled her other hand, now holding onto Miss Marvel's bare leg for dear life.  
  
Rogue felt her head split in a million pieces. She had never absorbed someone's powers while still using one already! She wanted desperately to let go, but the addicting power surge that went through Rogue's body refused to obey Rogue's screaming mind. The pain surged through her body, and she felt with horror Miss Marvel's mind entering her own. The girl was screaming, shouting in agony, desperately trying to get Rogue to let go.  
  
But Rogue wouldn't. Then, Miss Marvel fell limp and the two fell down onto the hard concrete floor. No! Rogue's mind shouted. She braced herself, waiting for the hard impact. But it never came.  
  
Rogue opened her eyes to see that she was floating inches above the ground! She saw Miss Marvel's limp body lying on the ground, not moving. She stood up, just barely levitating off the ground. Then, she felt her feet gently touch solid ground.  
  
Miss Marvel was still lying limp on the floor. Rogue went over and turned her over.  
  
"Ahhh!" Rogue screamed as she saw what lay before her. Miss Marvel's green eyes had turned pure white, and they were wide, staring up at Rogue.  
  
Suddenly, it felt like Rogue's head had split in two.  
  
~What the hell have you done with my body!!!! ~ A voice screamed inside Rogue's head.  
  
~Wha-? Who are you? ~ Rogue asked, freaked out.  
  
~Idiot, YOU did this to me, didn't you?! I'm Miss Marvel . . . ~  
  
~That's impossible! You're right next to me . . . ~  
  
Miss Marvel suddenly shouted curse words at Rogue, making Rogue clutch her head in pain and wishing that Bobby was there with her.  
  
"Go away . . ." Rogue mumbled.  
  
~I will never go away. As my revenge, I'll make you go so insane that you'll wish I had killed you! ~  
  
With that last shout, Rogue fainted.  
  
* * *  
  
"Done, Blaze?"  
  
"Yup. Let's go." John picked her up, and Blaze wrapped her arms around John's shoulders.  
  
So they walked the way they'd come out, and quickly. Blaze had set the timer for 20 minutes before all the power went out, including the doors.  
  
"Rogue!" Bobby ran over to his girlfriend, who was lying on the ground.  
  
"Wake up!" Bobby shook her. Rogue stirred, and slowly sat up. She rubbed her temples.  
  
"Bobby?"  
  
"Yeah . . ."  
  
"Thank god it's you!" Rogue threw her arms around Bobby.  
  
"Whoa! Stop! Rogue, you're choking me! Is the Russian guy's super-strength still in effect?" Bobby teased.  
  
"Shut up and let's get outta here!" Rogue suggested. She was relieved that Miss Marvel hadn't spoken up yet.  
  
"Marie was smart, sending you two." Blaze commented with a cough.  
  
"Oh . . ." Rogue and Bobby looked at each other guiltily. "We kind of . . . snuck out and got you guys ourselves."  
  
Blaze grinned weakly and said, "Well, then, prepare for the wrath of . . . well . . . yourself."  
  
* * *  
  
Wow! Whew! *wipes sweat off forehead* that was long! Well, hope you liked it and review!!! See what I meant about cutting it off? 


	14. New Powers and the Disk

65 reviews! Thank you all for reviewing, and I do not own any X-Men characters.  
  
Gunner: Thanks for reminding me about that Colossus in the movie. I forgot about him . . . I had just finished watching X-Men Evolution when I started writing this chapter, and in that one he was sort of a bad guy . . . sorry, I got confused.  
  
Here's the chapter . . .  
  
* * *  
  
"WHERE have you BEEN?!"  
  
Bobby and Rogue looked at each other sheepishly as a very angry Marie approached them once they entered the secret entrance using the same way Jubilee had shown them.  
  
"We were saving them," Bobby explained, pointing to the two Pyros, "and they were torturing them, Rog-Marie! If we didn't go when we did they probably would have been dead!"  
  
Marie just stared at him opened mouthed but soon closed it and let out a deep sigh. "All four of you are to go into the Healing Wing, Blaze, instruct them where to go."  
  
Blaze nodded and told John where to go. Bobby and Rogue began to follow, but not without a good-bye glare from Marie. They both winced under her angry stare.  
  
"Wow, Rogue, I didn't know you could ever be that mad," John commented.  
  
"I can be, just hope I never direct it towards you," Rogue retorted coolly.  
  
"Amen to that." John muttered. "Think we should give Marie the disks?"  
  
Blaze shook her head and coughed. "Not yet. Wait till she's calmed down before showing her."  
  
"Man, I never thought Rogue as the over-protective worrying no-risk type." Bobby said.  
  
"She's been like that," Blaze explained, "ever since you died, Bobby."  
  
"Oh." Then they all elapsed in an uncomfortable silence.  
  
* * *  
  
"I don't think it was a good idea to yell at them, Marie," Jubilee pointed out, shaking her long silky black hair.  
  
"They disobeyed me, and without a thought of what could happen in the past if they had died!" Rogue argued.  
  
"Yes, but you heard them," Jean added, "remember, they said that Pyro and Blaze would have died if they hadn't gone, and I believe them!"  
  
"Jean is right, Marie," Nightcrawler said in his thick accent, "they did the right thing, as God intended."  
  
"Did God intend Bobby to have to die by the hand of his best friend?!" Marie demanded.  
  
"It was his time, nothing can stop Death." Kurt said, making the sign of the cross.  
  
"And the nature of his death?" Marie pressed.  
  
"God has his intentions; everything is connected in some way. We mortals are just too simple minded and close minded to figure it out right away."  
  
"Whatever." Marie got up and was about to leave.  
  
"Marie . . ." Scott said, getting up.  
  
"What, Scott?"  
  
"I know what you're going to do. You're going to interrogate them, aren't you?" Scott guessed.  
  
"No." But Marie had been thinking of doing that very thing.  
  
"Don't. You know as well as I do that despite their strength and bravery, they're still teenage kids, just as you were. Blaze and John were just tortured. Imagine what it'd be like to go through that as a teen! Give them time."  
  
"Fine." And with that Marie was out the door.  
  
"I just don't know what to do with her," Jean sighed as soon as the door closed. "She's been letting Bobby's death cloud her decisions."  
  
"She just never really had enough time to get over it, I guess," Jubilee offered, "And Pyro being the one to kill him . . . I'd be like that too if I were her. Never actually met the guy, but the way Bobby had talked about him . . . they must have been close."  
  
"They were." Jean replied.  
  
* * *  
  
The Next Day . . .  
  
Marie woke up, and decided to check on her younger self and the rest. When she passed by, she noticed Scott trying to fix a broken light bulb on the ceiling.  
  
"Hey, Marie, can you hand me that light bulb right there? Thanks." Scott asked.  
  
Marie nodded and picked it up. She tried to reach and give it to Scott, but he was too high up the ladder. Marie willed herself to reach higher, and surprisingly, she was now face to face with Scott.  
  
"Wow. I can reach high." Marie blinked.  
  
Scott blinked and stared from the ground to Marie. "When could you do that?"  
  
"Do what?" Then Marie looked below her. "Ahh!" Marie was floating in the air! Her surprise caused her to go unbalanced and fall to the ground. Then she willed herself to NOT fall, and found herself just an inch above ground.  
  
"Um, here's your light bulb, Scott. I have to go check with Jean on something!" With that, Marie went running in the direction towards the infirmary, tossing Scott the light bulb, almost causing him to fall.  
  
"Jean!" Marie shouted as she crossed into the infirmary. Jean shushed her with a finger to her lips and pointed to three of the four kids sleeping.  
  
"Not so loud, Marie!" Jean scolded her.  
  
"Sorry. How are they doing?" Marie asked apologetically.  
  
"Well, I was in the process of giving Blaze a cast," she motioned to the pyromaniac sitting on the edge of the table with a red cast on, "Bobby and John are both fine. Well, John has some . . . ISSUES . . ." Jean promptly went over to the sink and turned on the faucet.  
  
"What! What's happening?" John suddenly leaped up and panicked, his eyes flashing back and forth nervously.  
  
"I . . . I see what you mean," Marie said, looking at John strangely, who, after Jean turned off the water, had fallen back asleep again. Blaze looked at her fellow firestarter and shook her head.  
  
"What about . . . her?" Marie asked, meaning Rogue.  
  
Jean hesitated. "Well . . . physically she's fine, but mentally . . ."  
  
"Mentally?" Marie said fearfully.  
  
"Mentally she's unstable. When she entered the infirmary, she had clutched her head and it seemed like she was in great pain. When I entered her mind, I felt . . . another presence there, someone else's mind altogether."  
  
"Someone . . . else's mind?"  
  
"Yes, I believe it was the mind of Miss Marvel, the mutant who was under the influence of Stryker's potion, do you remember her?"  
  
"The mutant girl with super strength and . . . is able to fly?" Marie stopped, the reason for her being able to fly suddenly dawning on her.  
  
"Yeah, that's her all right. I think Rogue must have fought with her, and must have held on for way too long, her powers sucking up Miss Marvel's powers . . . and her mind . . . permanently." Jean explained.  
  
"Permanently?" Marie said breathlessly. "Jean, today, I reached up to give Scott a light bulb and I flew up to him."  
  
Jean didn't look surprised. "Rogue is your past self, so whatever she changes of the past, it affects you too."  
  
"Oh my god." Blaze said. She had been listening for the entire time. "That's why Rogue was fainted when we found her."  
  
"Exactly."  
  
* * *  
  
The NEXT day after that . . .  
  
All of them had recovered and woken up, with the exception of Rogue and Blaze, who's physical and mental problems gave them trouble. Blaze felt vulnerable with only being able to shoot fire with one arm, and Rogue hated the constant pain of Miss Marvel in her head.  
  
~Lalalalalalalalala ~ Miss Marvel sang.  
  
~Shut up! ~ Rogue shouted at the annoying mutant.  
  
~Try and make me! ~ The girl taunted Rogue.  
  
~Watch me! ~  
  
"Jean, isn't there any way for you to get her out of my head?" Rogue asked aloud.  
  
"Well, if the Professor was here, he could put a mental block between you two, so you wouldn't have to feel her inside your head anymore," Jean suddenly looked sad, "Even with my powers grown as they have, I doubt I'm anywhere near as powerful as Xavier."  
  
"C'mon, Jean," Jubilee said cheerfully, "I've seen you in action, and you're really powerful. What would it hurt just to try?"  
  
"I guess you're right," Jean admitted. "I'll try."  
  
Jean placed her hands around Rogue's head, but not quite touching her. Then, she let the power flow through her veins, and she entered Rogue's mind.  
  
She was an astral form, just a ghost in Rogue's mind. She saw two figures. A green-eyed girl was floating in this groundless plain, and . . . singing?  
  
Jean could see why Rogue wanted this girl out of her head. She was annoying. And speaking of Rogue . . .  
  
Rogue was sitting on what might have been ground in reality, and she had her arms crossed. Her eyes were closed and she looked like she was trying to block out Miss Marvel's singing.  
  
Jean remembered everything Professor Xavier had taught her, and all the other helpful hints she'd picked up over the years through experience. Suddenly, she felt that surge of power she'd felt at Canada, her eyes burnt with a powerful fire, and she felt . . . invincible.  
  
Both Miss Marvel and Rogue looked up, sensing the powerful presence in "their" mind. Each girl had a different reaction. Rogue smiled with relief and was distantly remembering another occasion like this when they watched Jean get swallowed by a wave of water. She remembered the way Scott cried out to his love, the way Logan punched the chair in a mixture of grief and anger.  
  
Miss Marvel, on the other hand, cringed in fear at this powerful force. Her soul, drugged and confused by the updated Stryker's Serum, was afraid of this force of good and the power of this mutant. She knew this wasn't a good thing for her, since she was an invader in Rogue's mind.  
  
Suddenly, Miss Marvel was thrown backwards and chains appeared out of nowhere. They flew to her ankles and arms, pinning her in a corner of Rogue's mind. Then, a brick wall began forming up around her, covering her up completely. She realized what was happening to her and began to scream and awful scream, cursing at both Rogue and Jean, cursing at the world. Miss Marvel's final screams could be heard until the last brick piled itself up.  
  
Rogue uncrossed her arms and listened in silence for a while.  
  
"Silence. I never thought I'd actually like it. Thanks, Jean." Rogue said thankfully. Then she looked at the brick wall-mind block containing Miss Marvel. "Although I do feel sorry for her . . . this isn't really completely her fault."  
  
"It is too bad. We could have used her as an X-Man . . . too bad the government got to her first." Jean said sadly, feeling the surge of power leave her, and her eyes returned to its original color. She released herself from Rogue's mind.  
  
Jean gasped as she came back into reality. She relaxed her hand from the position it was in before.  
  
Rogue opened her eyes and she sighed. "That's so much better, thanks."  
  
"No problem."  
  
"Now what?" Marie asked.  
  
"Now I give you this," John said, taking the disks out of his pocket and handing them to Marie, who in turn handed them to Jean, who inserted them into the computer. She turned it on, and they waited for the computer screen to turn on.  
  
After Jean logged on, she opened the disk files, and everyone tensed as they waited to see the secrets of the disk.  
  
On the disk read four words:  
  
Ice Rose. Ice + Rogue. 


	15. Robert Drake

SNOW! SNOW! SNOW! I woke up this morning and there was SNOW in the backyard!!! Unfortunaly not enough to stop school, but that's okay. Don't ya just love snow? Sorry. I get carried away with my snow wanting, like Crocker from Fairly Oddparents. Anyone watch that? Anyways . . . sorry for the wait, here's chapter . . . um . . . fifteen I think.  
  
* * *  
  
"I'm lost." John said.  
  
"Me too." Blaze added.  
  
They both looked at Rogue and Bobby.  
  
"Don't look at us," They said in unison.  
  
The four teens looked at Marie.  
  
"Bobby always made me an ice rose . . . it was kind of our thing," Marie explained, blushing slightly.  
  
"Too gushy for me," John muttered, but then stopped when Marie gave him a deadly look.  
  
"But why would that is in a disk hidden in a library with Marie and Iceman's love affair on it?" Blaze asked.  
  
"It's not an affair," Marie pouted, "Being married is not having an affair! Plus, who cares about what we did?"  
  
"We do." Everyone said in unison.  
  
"No one answered my question," Blaze said.  
  
"It IS strange . . . we'll work on it," Jean said, popping the disk out of the computer.  
  
Suddenly Marie let out a gasp. "Today's the day that . . . he died . . ." she trailed off, suddenly looking sad.  
  
If anyone watched those cartoons, remember when a character has an idea usually a light bulb clicks open over his/her head? Well, that's the type of thing that happened to Marie, except minus the light bulb.  
  
"What is it, Marie?" Jean asked, confused.  
  
". . . On Bobby's tombstone . . . he wanted a rose on it . . ." Marie said.  
  
Blaze got it first. "And Bobby must have been the one to write those words on that disk . . . so the message might have something to do with him wanting a rose on his grave!"  
  
Marie nodded. "That's right. I was going to go to the cemetery today anyway . . . you three might as well come along."  
  
"Marie . . . can I come too?" Blaze asked, feeling slightly nervous. But she had a feeling that she needed to be there too.  
  
Marie was silent for a moment. Then, she repeated, "You four might as well come along."  
  
Blaze smiled, and then rubbed her casted arm, wincing slightly.  
  
* * *  
  
They arrived at the cold, windy cemetery a half an hour later. Blaze and John were both very uncomfortable, due to the fact they were both pyros. Of course, Bobby didn't feel it at all. Rogue was all bundled up and covered, so she was warm as well. Marie had only a jacket on and her gloves, but she didn't seem to notice the cold once her eyes landed on the grave of Robert Drake.  
  
Marie had brought red roses with her. She kneeled down next to her love and set the roses down, arranging them so they looked nice.  
  
The four teens looked slightly uncomfortable, thinking that they were barging in on her private time, but Rogue stepped forward stiffly and examined the tombstone. Her fingers outlined the letter that made up "Robert 'Bobby' Drake", hoping that something would happen. Nothing did.  
  
"The rose, remember, Rogue?" Bobby's icy breath breathed into Rogue's ear. His breath would seem cold to anyone else, but to Rogue it was all it took to send a shiver through her spine, and then warm her heart.  
  
"Oh, yeah, right." Rogue ran her gloved fingers against the rose. Nothing happened.  
  
"Maybe this isn't what that message meant," John suggested.  
  
"Maybe it is," Blaze retorted.  
  
"Well, it's not working, is it?" John snapped, annoyed at his fellow firestarter.  
  
"She's probably not doing it right. Not everything's all plain and out in the open for idiots. There's obviously a secret, and he had to hide it," Blaze said a matter of factly.  
  
"Want to test your theory in a fire throwing contest?" John suggested.  
  
"Think you can beat a girl who can only throw fire with one arm?"  
  
"Shut up!" Bobby snapped.  
  
Both firestarters stared at Iceman, shocked. Bobby doesn't snap.  
  
"We're trying to figure out how to work this thing, and you two fighting isn't really helping!" Bobby continued, "So unless you two have something to say that will help us, shut it!"  
  
They were quiet.  
  
Marie glanced over to where the couple was getting frustrated. She took off her glove and moved Rogue's hand gently aside. Then, with her bare hand, she touched the center of the rose. To Marie's surprise, she felt the sensation of taking someone's life force. Then, the air above the center of the rose wavered, like a hologram, and the invisibility that had cloaked it disappeared. What was beneath the hologram was a button. Marie nervously pressed it, her heart beating hard.  
  
Everyone around gave a universal gasp as a holographic figure of Bobby Drake appeared before them.  
  
Bobby stared goggle eyed at his future self. Now he was pretty sure he knew what Rogue had felt when she saw Marie standing over here, an equally surprised expression on her face. But the older Bobby had an almost sad look in his eyes. They were serious. It looked like Bobby, except with facial hair stubs and taller. His blonde hair was also longer. Older Bobby also had a long slash scar next to his right eye. Ouch. Whatever slashed him must have hurt.  
  
"Hi everyone." Older Bobby said confidently. "Rogue, John, Blaze, myself, and . . . Marie." His voice was slightly more affectionate when he spoke Marie's name.  
  
"I bet you're wondering why I put a secret message in my tombstone, and why you three . . . and Blaze . . . are here at all," Bobby began.  
  
"Duh." John said, rolling his eyes, pretending not to be affected by the Bobby he later on murders. But in fact, the whole thing creeped him out.  
  
Rogue elbowed him in the ribs.  
  
"Jean probably already told you the science behind it. But you were meant to come here, because you four are the key to changing this future this . . . mess of a world and society."  
  
"Me?" Blaze spoke up, surprised, "But I'm from this time. I can't do anything in the past, I'm wouldn't be allowed to go to the past and change things."  
  
Hologram Bobby still spoke ahead, but addressing Blaze, "She told me you'd be surprised. You do something that can affect those three's decision. Believe me; you especially have an important part in all this." He addressed John, "John . . ."  
  
John looked away and looked uncomfortable.  
  
". . . you will kill me. She saw that too. It's something that can't be avoided. I saw the Seer, Destiny, and she told me about your coming, about everything. I plotted all the pieces of place. Now . . . in order to fix this, the three of you need to be able to get back to your own time. I had some people create a time portal. And ironically, the last thing I would ask John was to keep it safe in the brotherhood hideout. No one would suspect that I'd ask him to keep it there, especially if John was the one to kill me. I knew he still had some humanity in him, and he would feel bad about my death and accept my request."  
  
"So you had yourself KILLED to make sure some stupid machine we could have hidden was SAFE?!" Marie shrieked suddenly, tears streaming down her face. Her face was red, and she was angry.  
  
"Destiny said you'd react like that, Marie. I'm sorry! How could I tell you ahead of time, 'Sorry, Marie, but I'm going to die soon, good-bye?' I loved you, and I loved all the little mutant kids Jubilee picked off the streets! Changing the past was the only way to really do some damage to this society. If certain things never happened . . . if certain events were never to happen . . . we could all have a better life, including Blaze! She could have had maybe parents who weren't so radical! And John would never have become the way he is now, and I would not have to have to die!"  
  
John never looked at the hologram the entire speech, but he finally found the courage to stare at his older best friend.  
  
Older Bobby cleared his throat and blushed slightly from his outburst, but then he said, "I love you, Marie, and always will. Good luck to you five."  
  
Then Bobby Drake fizzled out of sight, and the button that had activated him disappeared.  
  
The silence between them took hold for a while. Blaze still looked slightly surprised and stunned. John just stared at his feet, an unusual thing to do, due to his usual confident personality. Bobby and Marie looked at each other. Marie stared at that spot where Bobby had floated with a longing in her eyes. Then, Marie said, "I guess we should go to the Brotherhood's, and claim the Time Portal from Pyro." 


	16. Twisted Pyro

Only three reviews? Slightly disappointing but thanks to those who did review! This is by far my longest chapter yet . . . I hope you enjoy it! ^_^ Now . . . John meets his older self! Please review!  
  
* * *  
  
Bobby looked thoughtfully at his former best friend. "An older John Allerdyce? Wonder what he . . . you . . . are going to be like."  
  
John shrugged. Personally, he didn't want to know, considering this Pyro had killed future Iceman.  
  
Blaze's chocolate brown eyes searched John's face and she asked with concern in her voice. "Are you okay?"  
  
John glanced at his fellow firestarter and nodded. "I'm fine."  
  
Blaze did not look convinced, but she let it go. "Marie? Are you okay with this?"  
  
Marie also nodded in the same silent way John had. "I can do this, Liz. Don't worry about me." She smiled slightly.  
  
"Okay . . ." Blaze still looked worried as she glanced from John to Bobby to Marie to Rogue. Rogue put a gloved hand on her shoulder and said, "It's fine. We've dealt with worse things."  
  
"I just feel so awkward," Blaze said to Rouge privately, "this is sort of personal for you guys and I feel like I'm intruding or something."  
  
"Well, the future Bobby said you play an important part in this, so relax." Rogue smiled reassuringly at the pyro, "Besides, it helps to have some more firepower around . . . ignore the pun. Plus . . ." Rogue hesitated. "we still don't know if we can completely trust John, if you know what I mean."  
  
Blaze winced and seemed taken aback, but she understood the grounds for Rogue's suspicion.  
  
So they got back into the car and drove to the headquarters of the Brotherhood.  
  
"So how come nobody attacks the Brotherhood's base?" Bobby asked.  
  
"Because it's like our base," Marie explained, "On the outside it's a boarding house, but underground . . . it's a whole different story."  
  
Soon they arrived at the Brotherhood Boarding House.  
  
"So what do we do?" John asked. "Just ring the doorbell and walk in?"  
  
"That's the idea." Marie replied distractedly.  
  
Feeling nervous, John took out his Zippo lighter and started flicking it open and closed. Click. Click.  
  
Marie ringed the doorbell and they waited for a moment before the door was opened. A man with ruby red eyes opened the door. He observed Marie up and down before speaking.  
  
"Ah, it's Mademoiselle Marie, eh? So what brings you to this side of town?" His red eyes sparkled. He was apparently a Southern man, due to his accent.  
  
"Don't try it, Remy." Marie warned. "We need to see Pyro."  
  
Remy's eyebrows shot up. "Pyro? You want to see the boss after . . . you know."  
  
"Wait, you're on first name terms with the bad guy?" Bobby asked.  
  
Remy leaned closer to the group, his eyes looking around, searching for any eavesdroppers. "Remy's gonna tell you a secret, okay? Remy was sort of . . . forced to be in the Brotherhood. Pyro can be very persuasive when he wants to be. Remy actually doesn't like it here. I knew Marie and Bobby Drake from when they helped me out of a few scrapes, and well . . . we have a mutual friendship."  
  
"Remy provides us with some intel." Marie added.  
  
Remy's eyes flashed from Rogue to Marie, just noticing Rogue. "Marie never told Gambit about her having a daughter! Or twin sister or whatever the heck you are. Mighty pretty thing, though."  
  
Rogue blushed, and Bobby just huffed.  
  
"She's not my daughter." Marie informed Remy. "She's . . . me, from the past. All three of them are, minus Blaze-you've met her before, right?-, from the past."  
  
Remy's eyes widened as he examined the trio.  
  
"You," he said, pointing to Bobby, "look like the late Iceman." Bobby put his hand out for a handshake. Remy shook his hand, and Bobby froze it.  
  
"You ARE Iceman!" Remy said, amazed. He turned to Rogue. "So you're Marie, eh? You always were a pretty bell, Marie." He turned to John, who just stared back at him stonily. "You're . . . Pyro, aren't you?" He said softly. He glanced down at the Zippo lighter John was still flicking on and off. "He got rid of that thing long ago, traded it in for ultimate power, for the ability like Miss Blaze here, to not only be able to manipulate the fire, but to create it. But in this devil's bargain, it made his power ten times stronger, but Blaze'll get there . . . her powers are still advancing. After he made that bargain . . . I hear he was different. Power hungry, more than just the innocent teenage longing for someone who cared."  
  
"John? Innocent?" Bobby laughed, despite himself.  
  
John clicked his lighter faster now, at an angry pace. He was really starting to dislike this Gambit. He was talking about John like he wasn't even there. Plus, he analyzed him . . . it was sort of creepy. It especially bothered John since he knew part of it was true.  
  
"Well," John said quickly to distract everyone from the Southerner's observation, "if you don't like it here, why don't you just, you know, leave?"  
  
Remy opened his mouth to respond, but Rogue got there first.  
  
"What, you mean like you did, John?" Rouge said, her voice suddenly icy cold.  
  
John winced at her comment. Suddenly, rage took over and he yelled, "Didn't it ever occur to you that if I hadn't gone with Magneto that I'd have drowned in Alkali Lake?"  
  
"Yeah, but you still could have come back afterwards!" Rogue argued angrily.  
  
"I have to agree with her," Bobby added. "John, you were my best friend, and then you suddenly join the bad guys and fight us! How did you THINK we'd react?"  
  
Blaze looked at the trio uncomfortably, and tried to think of any way to stop their arguing. Nothing came to mind. Maybe it would be good for them to get their feelings out anyway. She looked at Remy and Marie, who seemed to be listening to every word with interest.  
  
"I didn't really think you'd care!" John fumed.  
  
"How could we NOT care?" Rogue asked.  
  
"What? You think I never noticed the times when you obviously didn't want me there? When you wished I never existed?"  
  
"John, you annoy people sometimes, but never wished you never existed!" Bobby was getting tired of this stupid excuse, "God, you know, not everything is about you-"  
  
"I know that!" John yelled at Bobby. He had a sudden urge to hit Bobby with a stream of flames. "Xavier's place had nothing for me! Australia had nothing for me! Nothing except a father who hated me because I was a mutant! Xavier's place had nothing but a bunch of so-called friends who were snuggling with each other when I needed them the most!"  
  
Rogue and Bobby's mouths opened wide, but then closed shut.  
  
"Oh my god, John . . . I'm . . . we're . . . sorry." Marie looked shocked.  
  
"You never said anything about your dad. But don't you think I'd understand?" Bobby said, his voice not loud anymore.  
  
John could have hit himself. Stupid temper. He never intended to mention his father to anyone. He didn't need, or want, anyone's sympathy. He left behind all his helplessness and pain behind in Australia . . . or so he thought. At least he's not helpless; he could just burn through anyone in his way . . .  
  
"Just shut up, forget it, and let's just get this stupid Time Machine thing." John muttered as he pushed past Gambit. Everyone else hesitated, not sure what to do about this. Blaze, however, did not hesitate and followed John into the mansion. She caught up with him quickly and grabbed his hand to get him to stop. She whispered into his ear, "Sorry about your dad, but did you really have to yell at them?"  
  
John yanked his hand out of her grasp and addressed her harshly. "I don't need anyone's sympathy, especially not yours."  
  
"Just to let you know, my dad hates me, not like the way Bobby's family does, because they don't hate him. They got into contact with him a few years after he revealed to them that he was a mutant. My dad really hates me. He disowned me, threw me out onto the street, and he even denounces me in public, saying how he can relate to the public because his own flesh and blood is one of those filthy mutants and all the regular anti-mutant crap. So don't say you don't want my sympathy, because it's not what you're getting. What you're getting from me is relating, cause I know what you went through. I'm going through it." Blaze stopped as she heard the footsteps of the rest of the group coming their way.  
  
John was silent and didn't talk to anyone all the way to seeing future Pyro. He was partly sulking and partly thinking over what Blaze had said. When he thought about it, he wondered if he was a bit too harsh on them, especially Blaze. Bobby and Rogue HAD been good friends for the most part . . . maybe it's just a third wheel thing . . . John's head hurt thinking about all these conflicting emotions.  
  
But they just didn't understand. The temptations . . . Bobby and Rogue were pretty much part of the good boys and good girls group. John, on the other hand . . . did not see things as clearly as they did. There were shades of grey. People you trusted could turn on you in an instant. Blaze, on the other hand . . . she seemed to get John. Maybe it was because of living in this future time you're forced to see the grey.  
  
John thought back to the day when he turned his back on the X-Men and joined Magneto . . .  
  
~*Flashback*~  
  
John stood in the snow, looking at the helicopter with the two "bad guys" inside. Maybe they knew where the X-Men were, because frankly, John was lost.  
  
Magneto spoke to Mystique for a moment before stepping out of the helicopter.  
  
"Pyro." Magneto said, making his way towards John. "What brings you here?"  
  
"I was looking for the X-Men." John replied curtly.  
  
"Ah." Magneto studied John's young face wisely, "You were tired of being treated as if you were a little child? I understand. Well, Pyro, this dam is about to 'blow' as you youngsters put it. You'll never make it back to either the X-Men or the X-Jet in time. Come with us, unless you want to drown here."  
  
"Is that a threat?" John said suspiciously. "Besides, how will Bobby and Rogue get out of here?"  
  
"Oh, they're smart, they can handle themselves." Magneto smiled, "And this is not a threat, Pyro, this is an opportunity. An opportunity to save your skin. And," Magneto lowered his voice, as if someone was listening, "You have a powerful power, despite the limitation of only being able to manipulate the fire. But I can teach you things Charles never could. Maybe together we could break the barrier of your mutation and you can summon fire without the use of your lighter."  
  
As John looked into Magneto's face, he could tell that this man was telling the truth. Besides, he didn't want to drown. If he didn't like it wherever Magneto took him, he could always go back to the X-Mansion.  
  
"Okay. I'll go with you." John agreed.  
  
~*End of Flashback*~  
  
When Magneto took him to one of his bases, John decided not to return to Xavier's school, though he was tempted to many times. He had missed Bobby and Rogue. But at Magneto's place . . . he had ultimate freedom, as long as he didn't piss Magneto off. Bobby and Rogue wouldn't understand his need for freedom. They were perfectly fine in their little world of theirs. But Magneto had seen the real picture, what the reality of the mutant's situation was. And this future just proved that Magneto was right.  
  
Remy suddenly stopped. "This is the door to Pyro's room. Do you want me to come in with you?" Remy's question was directed to Marie.  
  
Marie smiled. "It's alright, Remy, I think I can handle him."  
  
Remy stuck his head into the door and then turned back to the group. "Wait here."  
  
They waited outside in an uncomfortable silence. John went back to clicking his lighter, which seriously irritated Marie, who was no longer used to John doing this.  
  
"Would you cut that out?!" Marie snapped irritably.  
  
Click. "What? I don't like uncomfortable silences, okay?" John defended himself.  
  
Rogue and Bobby rolled their eyes.  
  
Gambit poked his head through the door. "He's ready to see you." He hesitated. "The three of you had better be prepared for a different Pyro." Remy turned to Marie, "He's full of it, so be careful where you tread."  
  
Full of it? John was confused. What did that mean?  
  
Gambit opened the door for them and they filed in.  
  
Rogue gasped.  
  
Bobby stared.  
  
John just stood there, feeling numb.  
  
Future Pyro had beer stains running down his shirt, and though he was sitting down, his eyes looked unfocused. But the thing that had caught all their eyes immediately was the evil and menace in Pyro's eyes. They were completely different than John's eyes, which, if you looked hard enough, just seemed lonely.  
  
All the times when John had set something on fire-the boy at the museum, Bobby's front lawn-it just all seemed like John was having fun. But this Pyro didn't do anything, but you could feel the cold around him, despite his power.  
  
Future Pyro's eyes widened as he stared at John, Bobby, and Rogue.  
  
"Wh-what?"  
  
"Pyro." Marie cleared her throat. But Pyro paid no attention. He just continued to stare at the three.  
  
"Pyro!" Marie yelled. But being so full of beer, he seemed to not be able to hear her.  
  
Blaze, who had been here before with Jubilee once before, was now just as shocked as the trio to see what Pyro looked like. She wouldn't have been surprised by it before, and she really did not like Pyro from all the stories she was told. But then she met John, and she saw something else, something different. The John that Bobby and Marie had been friends with. And now, having have been with John for a while, it was a surprise to see an older copy of him like this.  
  
Blaze sighed and nudged Marie. "Should I?"  
  
Marie nodded. "It'll probably be the only way to get his attention,"  
  
Blaze put both her hands palm up towards Future Pyro. Then, a ball of fire formed from the air between her hands. She shot a streamer of flame towards Pyro, hitting him off balance and taking away some of the slugginess from him. (A/N: I don't think slugginess is a word, but for this story it is.)  
  
Pyro jumped suddenly, and his eyes flashed and they locked on Blaze. He seemed really pissed. He copied Blaze's movements, but Blaze's eyes widened as he created a stream of fire ten times larger than Blaze's.  
  
Blaze pushed Marie out of the way, but did not move herself.  
  
"No!" John ran to Blaze and put his body in front of her out of instinct.  
  
"John!" Blaze protested. But the rest of her complaint was muffled by the fire hitting them.  
  
Blaze pushed him, just to prove her point. "I'm a firestarter, John, remember?" Blaze gestured to her body, which had experienced no burning, no pain, "You don't need to worry. I can handle myself. This is why I come along on these trips, because not only can I create fire, I am immune to its downsides."  
  
John blushed, embarrassed. He had not been hurt either.  
  
"John? But that is my name!" Pyro said.  
  
Blaze scoffed. "Duh."  
  
"Marie . . . I haven't had a visit from you in years."  
  
Marie's eyes were cold. "And don't be expecting any more, okay? This is not a social call."  
  
"Why do you have a younger me, you, and . . . Bobby?" Pyro asked, eyes narrowing in suspicion.  
  
Marie winced at Bobby's name. "You have no right to speak of him!"  
  
"I can speak about him whenever the hell I want!" Pyro yelled.  
  
John winced as well, and was terribly embarrassed. God, this Pyro is making me look really bad, John thought.  
  
"Just . . . tell us where the Time Machine Bobby gave you is!" Marie urged. "Let's get this over with!"  
  
"You never answered my question Rogue . . . who are these people?!"  
  
"They're our past selves, okay? That's why we need the machine now, so we can send them home!" Marie explained angrily.  
  
"Oh . . . and I suppose this past version of myself . . ." He glanced at John, who was looking at him in disgust, "will change the future, huh? And never allow me to have this much power? Not a chance, Marie. He's me, he will face the same choice I did, alone as I did, and make the same choice. There's no stopping destiny, Marie . . . poor Bobby's gonna die, no matter what you do to try and change it." He smiled at Marie evilly. Blaze wondered how this . . . this creature could ever have been John. John was never evil.  
  
Rogue and Bobby were thinking along the same lines. They looked at each other with extreme worry. This is John? This is their former friend?  
  
"Well, then, follow Gambit . . . he will show you the way." He called to Remy over a small microphone in his leather jacket.  
  
"Follow Remy." He said curtly to them. Rogue realized that he had to be straightforward and not too warm with them, otherwise Pyro would suspect that he was Marie's friend.  
  
They followed him down an elevator for what seemed like forever. Marie seemed shaken up, and she kept on glancing at John. Everyone else seemed to be sneaking glances at John as well.  
  
"Okay, everyone stop looking at me!" John finally shouted, irritated.  
  
"Who the hell was that back there?" Bobby said finally, "Cause it sure wasn't John."  
  
"It's him all right," Marie said.  
  
Blaze put a hand on John's shoulder as a small gesture of comfort. John smiled at her, appreciating the gesture.  
  
They arrived in the lowest level, and they were very very . . . unimpressed. There was nothing there except for a small brown box.  
  
"That's the machine that's gonna take us home?" Bobby asked skeptically.  
  
"It's a portable. Easy to move around." Marie took the box. "Let's go back upstairs."  
  
They made their ascent back upstairs. Remy waved good-bye to them at the door, but then he suddenly fell to the floor, three darts in his neck.  
  
"Remy!" Marie shrieked.  
  
"Not again!" Rogue gasped.  
  
Policemen had surrounded the place, and they could see Pyro talking to the police, his head nodding and pointing at the five and the stunned Remy.  
  
The Chief of Police nodded his head and spoke into his loudspeaker. "All right, you mutants! You are under arrest for being mutants, along with the accusation of the fact you broke into this man's house and stole something of his! The stunned man on the door is under arrest for association of mutants, as well as aiding them in this burglary!"  
  
"What?" Blaze shouted. "That's crazy! This is ours!"  
  
"Blaze . . ." Marie put a hand on her shoulder, silencing the firestarter.  
  
"All right, officer," Marie said, putting her hands up in the air, but giving Blaze the Time Machine, "I surrender. I blackmailed these guys to help me. Take me, but not them."  
  
"She's lying!" Pyro protested angrily. Marie ran towards Pyro and then slapped him. She proceeded to kick him in the stomach. Due to her new strength thanks to Miss Marvel, it hurt ten times more than it would have before.  
  
"I have waited years to do that!" Marie exclaimed.  
  
"What is she doing?" Blaze murmured.  
  
Pyro got angry and engulfed Marie in flames!  
  
"Marie!" Everyone cried in unison.  
  
"G-GO!" Marie shouted at them as she cried out in agony of the burning.  
  
"Hey! That guy's a mutant! Arrest him! The kids too!"  
  
"What do we do?" Rogue asked no one in particular.  
  
"We run!" Blaze shouted.  
  
"What about Marie?" Bobby asked.  
  
"We-we can't do anything about that! Run!" Blaze said, her voice cracking.  
  
But then, some hidden police officers jumped out of nowhere and knocked them all out cold. 


	17. Out of Control

Yay! *jumps up and down gleefully* 85 reviews!!! ^_^ I saw Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King today! It's an awesome movie! If you haven't seen it go see it! Anyway . . . thank you all so much and sorry for the long wait! Here's the chapter!  
  
* * *  
  
Blaze woke up groggily, her head screaming with pain. She groaned and was about to put a hand to her head when she realized she couldn't. Her hands were chained with iron to a metal chair she was strapped on. She tried to create a flame but in dismay found that she couldn't, due to the fact that iron covered her entire hand.  
  
She twisted her head to one side, searching for the others. To her horror, she found the adult, EVIL, Pyro staring at her, awake and chained next to her.  
  
"What the-?" She exclaimed.  
  
Pyro rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't have been captured unless I wanted to, which in this case, I did."  
  
"And why would you want to be captured?" Blaze asked coldly.  
  
"What are you so pissed about?" Pyro asked, eyes narrowing.  
  
"You . . . you almost killed Marie! And you sold us out! I think that's a perfectly good reason for being mad!" Blaze said, shouting now.  
  
Pyro just stared at her and didn't speak.  
  
Suddenly it dawned on Blaze. "You . . . you did kill her, didn't you?" She said surprisingly softly. Thought it was stated as a question, her tone was a statement.  
  
Pyro stared at her with emotionless eyes. "Might as well. Anyway, it's more like I did a favor for her. Now she's with precious Bobby-"  
  
"Go to hell!" Blaze snarled.  
  
Pyro smiled. He enjoyed playing with people's emotions-especially when they got angry. Then things get interesting . . . and they're weak and likely to spill information. Part of the reason why he'd allowed himself to be captured was because he wanted information about how exactly his past self and the lovers got to be in this time. He would have to tell his boss . . . and his boss would have to travel back in time again to make sure Pyro makes the decision to accept the "Devil's Bargain".  
  
"Are you sure you really want me to go there?" Pyro taunted. "Because of course, that means you're condemning the past John too, you know."  
  
"He's different from you."  
  
"Is he? Because no matter how you or Iceman or Rogue deny it, he's me. He will make the same decision I made."  
  
Blaze just glared at him.  
  
She started to retort when the steel door swung open. A man in a business suit surrounded by two bodyguards in black and a military officer walked in. A woman followed them from behind. The two bodyguards stared at the two firestarters behind black sunglasses. But Blaze could feel the heat of his hatred behind them.  
  
Her eyes wandered over to the business-like man and the one dressed in military garb.  
  
Blaze's eyes widened as she recognized the three. The man in the business suit was none other than the President, her father. The military man was the Colonel . . . known to her as Uncle Bryce. He wasn't really her uncle- but he and her father had been really close friends, and he was considered part of the family. He had a wife but then she disappeared. And the woman? Her mother.  
  
She was not surprise when Uncle Bryce had merely glanced at her with no warmth in his face. If Blaze remembered correctly, he hated mutants too.  
  
Blaze felt intense anger at her father and mother, her so-called family.  
  
"Like I always said . . . your misbehaviors always come back to haunt you." President Johnson said.  
  
"Misbehaviors?" Blaze said, "So being a mutant is MY fault? It's your genes too!"  
  
The President frowned. "Scientists have confirmed that that is a false statement-it's a mutated gene-hence the name 'mutants' or more commonly 'muties'".  
  
Pyro snickered.  
  
The President's mouth widened a little, as if disbelieving that someone would question his authority.  
  
"Do you really wish to die, mutant?" He asked incredulously. With a nod of his head the two bodyguards cocked their guns at Pyro's forehead. He merely smiled.  
  
"Don't really care about that, Mr. President. You see, I'm already dying. But I'd rather go with a fight."  
  
Blaze stared at him. How could he be dying? His powers were still so strong . . .  
  
President Johnson couldn't care less. "I may need you later." And the bodyguards put down their guns.  
  
Suddenly, he turned to the Colonel. "I've changed my mind. I want you to inject it into her." He pointed to his former daughter.  
  
The Colonel's eyebrows knitted together and he said, "Are you sure you don't want to reconsider that Dan?"  
  
President Johnson's eyes narrowed menacingly. "It's Mr. President when we're doing business Colonel, and I'll be making the decisions around here. Inject her. That's an order."  
  
Blaze glanced at her Mom, and wasn't surprised to see that she showed no sign of helping her out. So. This is interesting. Uncle Bryce is the only one that shows any sign of worry about this "injection."  
  
Then, all of them left. They were alone again.  
  
"What do you mean you're dying?" Blaze hissed.  
  
Pyro smirked. "I didn't think you cared."  
  
"Tell me!" Blaze insisted.  
  
"It's called the Legacy Virus . . . it slowly kills mutants . . . I don't know how I got it. But there were many mutants dying from this virus, and I have it. I'll get weaker and weaker until my own power consumes me. This 'Devil's Bargain' that you all condemn me for taking is the only thing that's kept me alive for this long."  
  
(A/N: I know in the comics John does die of the Legacy Virus *sob* but I'm not sure that's exactly how he dies so for anyone who reads the comics sorry if I get the effect of the virus wrong.)  
  
"Who did you make that bargain with?!" Blaze demanded.  
  
Pyro smiled. "Do you really think I'll tell you that?"  
  
Suddenly, the door swung open, and the Colonel and some military officers came in. The Colonel motioned them and Pyro was taken out.  
  
Uncle Bryce kneeled down in front of Blaze, ignoring her glare. He seemed to look over her head, behind her. When he was satisfied, his eyes strayed onto Blaze's face.  
  
And then he hugged her.  
  
Blaze's eyebrows went straight up into her hair.  
  
" . . .?" Blaze was surprised. She expected to be yelled at, and poked at with a needle but not being embraced into a tight hug. This world is just so confusing!  
  
Uncle Bryce let go of her. "Elizabeth! Glad to see you're still alive!"  
  
Blaze couldn't stand it anymore. She cracked up and started laughing.  
  
The Colonel stared at her and was probably wondering if she was crazy.  
  
"This . . . is so . . . stupid . . . it's funny!" Blaze gasped into between laughs.  
  
A smile crept up in Uncle Bryce's lined face. "This is why you were my favorite of Dan's kids."  
  
But then his face became solemn again and Blaze stopped laughing.  
  
"All right. I don't have much time, but I was able to get the guy in charge of the security cameras to disable them for ten minutes so I can talk to you."  
  
Blaze got serious too. "Speaking of which, I thought you hated mutants. So . . . why again are you happy I'm alive?"  
  
"It's a long story, and we don't have much time-"  
  
"No. I want to know." Blaze insisted.  
  
Uncle Bryce sighed. "Okay. I did hate mutants. Despised them, as I was taught to. It's amazing as I look back and see that we were really brainwashed to hate them no matter what. Anyway, I met Claire, my wife. Do you remember her?"  
  
Blaze nodded. "Sort of."  
  
"I loved her so much," He continued, "and we had a happy five year marriage. I always sort of had this feeling like she was hiding something from me, but I ignored it. I didn't expect her to tell me every single detail of her life and past. In fact, I didn't know much about her past, except that she was an orphan.  
  
One day, I caught her in the kitchen. I was going to surprise her, so I went in through the back door instead of the front, so she didn't hear me come in. I saw a cup moving from the cupboard into her hand. Her eyes were on it the entire time. I was in shock. My wife was a mutant! She turned around and saw me staring at the cup in her hand.  
  
She started crying and kept on apologizing, saying that she knew my opinion on mutants but she didn't want to lose me. At first I was angry. But then I realized that I had been blind the entire time. If I could love a mutant that must mean that not all of them were bad. I told her it was okay and she told me everything. But then, I realized how stupid I was. My mike on my uniform automatically turned on every hour. New standard procedure just in case someone was captured. I should have turned it off before Claire told me everything, but I completely forgot.  
  
Once I realized it, I shut it off. Then I told Claire that she . . . that she had to leave the country."  
  
Uncle Bryce stopped a moment and tears brimmed out of the corner of his eyes. Blaze could tell that this was a memory he had not shared with anyone else.  
  
"So I arranged for her to secretly go over the border to Canada. Before she left, she . . . she told me that she was pregnant."  
  
Blaze gasped, she couldn't help it. She felt so sorry for him!  
  
"Since she was a psychic, sometimes in my dreams I get images of her in Canada. I also get images of my little girl . . . she's about seven years old right now I believe. I got to watch her grow up . . . but only in my dreams."  
  
"I-I'm sorry." Blaze said uncomfortably. What else could you possibly say to this?  
  
Then, Uncle Bryce forced himself into Colonel-mode. "I have to inject this in you-I have no choice. Otherwise your dad will be suspicious."  
  
"He's not my dad." Blaze said coldly.  
  
The Colonel sighed. "I'm going to have to fill you in on a lot, aren't I? First of all, your dad loves you. That's why he disowned you-"  
  
"Do you realize how weird that sounds?" Blaze interrupted.  
  
"No. Because when you set your birthday candles on fire lots of people saw it, and if he hadn't disowned you, you'd be dead right now. He had to let you go so that it kept up his image AND you'd have a chance to survive."  
  
"Then why does he want to inject me with . . . what does he want to inject me with?"  
  
Uncle Bryce scowled. "Greed. It's the thing that destroys both human and mutant alike. Over the years he began to like the power, and would do anything to keep it. The thing I have to inject you with is a steroid. Rage is what triggers the effect. Once rage takes over, your powers are increased to the height of its extent. You'll have no control over yourself and will probably burn up half of New York."  
  
"But why would he want to do that? I'd probably kill the whole world!" Blaze said, suddenly scared.  
  
"Because, I don't know what you mutants know of, but people's opinions of mutants are changing rapidly. Many have had experiences like me, where they've married mutants, or their kids have grown up into mutants. And your dad has been so against mutants, he could hardly change his mind now. Or so he thinks. Anyway, he wants a mutant to cause chaos so people will think: 'Maybe I was wrong. They are evil" And as for you burning the whole world . . . there's a safeguard in the steroid. Using so much power for so long will burn out your cells and you will die."  
  
Blaze didn't say anything. This was too much to absorb.  
  
"So I have to ask you to please keep your temper in check: they will defiantly try to tempt you. And I will contact your friends at that mutant rebel group and tell them. Hopefully they can set you free."  
  
"Wait! How will you contact the X-Men?" Blaze asked, confused.  
  
"Oh I've known the location of your base for years. It's a lot of work trying to ward the rest of the military off on learning the location too. Sorry."  
  
Blaze winced as he poked a long needle into her arm.  
  
* * *  
  
(A/N: HA! You thought I forgot about them, huh?)  
  
Rogue woke up, rubbing her head with gloved hands. She saw Bobby lying next to her. She shook him. "Bobby! Bobby wake up!"  
  
Bobby sat up, nearly knocking into Rogue. "Why are we in a cell?"  
  
Rogue looked around, suddenly noticing her surroundings. "Oh. We got captured. Again. You know, why do we always get captured?"  
  
"Bad luck?" Bobby guessed.  
  
Then Rogue heard a metallic clicking sound. She turned her head and saw John flicking the cap of his lighter. He was leaning against the damp cell wall.  
  
"John! Good you're awake too. How come you didn't try to escape? How long were you awake?" Rogue asked rapidly.  
  
John raised his eyebrows. "You just got smacked in the head. How come you're so hyper? I was awake for a while. I guess they didn't hit me as hard."  
  
"Well, go melt the bars or something." Rogue insisted.  
  
John just stared at them.  
  
Rogue rolled her eyes and turned to Bobby.  
  
Bobby nodded and stretched his hands out towards the bars, intending to freeze them. Nothing happened.  
  
"Told ya." John said.  
  
"You didn't say anything." Bobby retorted, annoyed.  
  
Rogue hesitated, and then suddenly touched her boyfriend's face with her hands. Nothing happened.  
  
A smile crept up onto her face. "How did this happen?"  
  
John rolled up his shirt sleeve to reveal a bracelet. "It must block our powers somehow."  
  
"John . . ." Rogue said, "You might want to turn around."  
  
"Why?" John asked suspiciously.  
  
Rogue and Bobby suddenly started kissing. They both liked it. This was different. Bobby felt no pain, and Rogue couldn't feel Bobby's personality in her mind.  
  
John made a disgusted face and looked out of the cell. "Only Bobby and Rouge would even think about kissing while being locked up in a cell."  
  
After what seemed like forever to John (but it was around five minutes) the cell bars were finally opening, and Blaze was thrown in. And the guard snarled to Bobby and Rogue, "Get a room you two."  
  
The guard had thrown Blaze right onto John.  
  
"Sorry." Blaze said weakly.  
  
John was about to respond sarcastically when he saw her pale, sweaty face. "What did they do to you?"  
  
Blaze smiled. "At least it wasn't torture." She meant it as a joke, but neither laughed. The effect of the steroid was taking place, and she felt like her entire body was on fire. It was unbearable, even for a firestarter like her.  
  
Then Bobby and Rogue grabbed her attention, and she forgot to answer John's question. " . . . What are they doing?"  
  
"Kissing. They gave us bracelets so our powers won't work." John explained.  
  
"Oh. Oh!" Blaze's eyebrows knitted together. "They have really weird timing."  
  
Suddenly, a bunch of guards came back and swung open the cell bars.  
  
Bobby and Rogue finally stopped kissing. The guards grabbed each of them painfully by the arms and forced them out.  
  
* * *  
  
"Well, this is comfortable." John remarked as the guard placed a rope around his neck. "And we have an audience too." A large crowd of people circled around the gallows, talking excitedly. But despite his joke, he was scared to death.  
  
"Knock it off, John." Rogue snapped, not in the mood.  
  
Bobby's icy blue eyes scanned the crowd, feeling numb. The X-Men must know . . . they'll save them somehow . . . he could always count on them.  
  
Evil Pyro was standing on the sidelines. Apparently they only had room for four. His hanging would come later. Now surprisingly, he looked bored.  
  
In the meanwhile, Blaze was finding it hard to keep control. The fire was so hot . . . she hoped the Colonel would hurry! She tried scanning the crowd, desperately searching for Cyclops, Jean, any of their children, heck, she'd take Wolverine.  
  
Then . . . she saw him.  
  
Her dad was stepping up in front of her. The fire inside her rose up at the sight of him. "Saved" her before or not, he's prepared to kill her and her friends now, and she can't forgive him.  
  
President Johnson cleared his throat and began to speak.  
  
"Four mutants have been found. It was also just discovered that these four were the culprits of the jewelry break-in . . ."  
  
"What?!" John demanded angrily, looking to his right to a panting Blaze and to his left to a confused Bobby. "We didn't break into anything! That's bullshit!"  
  
President Johnson turned around irritably and told John to shut up.  
  
"Make me." John sneered.  
  
President Johnson sighed. "If you insist,"  
  
The executioner knocked John on the head with a shovel. Don't ask why he had a shovel.  
  
"Ow!" John complained.  
  
Bobby and Rogue couldn't help but roll their eyes.  
  
President Johnson kept on droning on about how mutants are evil and how they deserved their punishment. Neither of them listened to him. Bobby was scanning the crowd, desperately looking for the X-Men, Rogue was trying to see an alternative way out, John's head was spinning too much to do much of anything, and Blaze was trying to drown her father out. She knew he would be the one who would try to tempt her.  
  
Then, he turned to Blaze. He said, "This . . . mutie . . . is my daughter. And you see, if I would hang this mutant, which must mean they are evil. They don't belong here." He cursed them, insulted them, until anger boiled inside her.  
  
By this time, the rest of them were listening. John had a scowl on his face.  
  
Blaze shut her eyes, trying to drown out his words, but she couldn't. They were meant for her, and she couldn't escape them. Suddenly, she was unaware at the tight rope tied to her hands or around her neck. Actually, she couldn't feel anything except anger. Her eyes burned with fire, and the ropes around her all fell onto the ground charred.  
  
Her entire body was surrounded by flames, and she looked pissed.  
  
The wind swept the flames behind her, and John got engulfed into flames. Of course, he didn't mind, but even to him, they were hot. Bobby felt the heat seep through his natural cold body temperature, and he began to sweat nervously. Luckily, Rogue was the furthest from Blaze, and she didn't get hurt. But she could still feel the heat. It was worse for her, since she was covered up.  
  
But then, John felt a cool liquid on his wrist. He looked down and saw that the bracelet that had contained his powers were now a puddle of liquid metal at his feet. And that the ropes around him were weak. He yanked both arms to the side and his hands were free. Then he ripped off the noose and went to free Rogue. Bobby had noticed John and followed his lead. Bobby glanced over where Pyro was, and found that he was gone.  
  
Blaze was smiling wickedly. She spread her arms out, palms up, and fireballs began appearing in her palms. Then, she raised them up into the air, and they began shooting at random people, causing chaos. People were rolling on the floor, trying to stamp the fire out. Many were running as fast as they could go out of there.  
  
Blaze smiled. Her eyes turned upward, and a man's cigar shot up in flames, his hair now on fire.  
  
All over the city, sources of fire were spreading uncontrollably. If there was a candle, it burned the room and the entire house or apartment. If someone was smoking, they were engulfed in flames.  
  
And Blaze didn't care.  
  
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed her dad looking scared and scrambling to talk to a guard.  
  
"You idiot! How long until she burns out? I didn't want all of New York burned down to the ground!" President Johnson demanded.  
  
"A-A couple of hours, sir. Like you said." The guard trembled, now seeing that Blaze was glaring down at him.  
  
"I said nothing of the sort!" The President raged. "Get out of my sight!"  
  
"Gladly." The guard mumbled as he scrambled to his feet and ran away.  
  
Blaze started to walk toward her cowering father. Her mother was screaming. "Watch out Dan!"  
  
Meanwhile at the gallows they had freed Rogue.  
  
"I have to use my power and touch her!" Rogue said.  
  
"What, like you did me?" John said dryly, remembering Rogue's comment when they went to retrieve the Time Machine.  
  
Rogue glared at John. "This isn't the right time to joke, John!"  
  
"No!" Bobby said firmly. "If you try and touch her, you'll get scorched before you even get ten feet close to her!"  
  
"But why is she acting like his?!" Rogue asked.  
  
"I don't know." John said thoughtfully, "She was going to tell me but then she noticed you guys kissing."  
  
"Me and John will be a diversion. Maybe she won't notice you." Bobby suggested.  
  
"It's worth a try." Rogue nodded.  
  
Blaze was advancing slowly, occasionally sending a fireball here and there. Suddenly, she felt one of her fireballs turn around and hit her instead. She was caught off guard.  
  
"What?" She scowled. Then she threw another one. And it came back.  
  
It was only then when she noticed Bobby and John. John was manipulating her fireballs back to her! Now Bobby sent out ice, but it got melted way before it reached her. She smiled. "You really think you can stop-"  
  
Then she sensed another presence behind her. It hit her.  
  
"Rogue." She said. She turned around and let a thin line of fire at Rogue, hitting her right in the chest and slamming her into a brick wall.  
  
"Rogue!" Bobby yelled. That's when he lost all common sense. He charged at Blaze!  
  
Blaze rolled her eyes and let out another stream of fire at him. He was knocked into the wall next to Rogue.  
  
"Idiot snowman." John muttered.  
  
John was slightly offended when Blaze just turned her back on him and advanced to her dad. John made a move to stop her but then thought, "Wait, this guy's evil! Oh well, I let her do him in first. It'll give Rouge and Bobby time anyway."  
  
Blaze smirked as she saw her father trembling in fear at the sight of her.  
  
"What? Is the great mutant hating President scared?" Blaze teased.  
  
President Johnson didn't respond, he just tried to crawl away. But Blaze had him cornered.  
  
Fire surrounded her hands, and she gave it to him, full blast. The President put his hands up and screamed.  
  
"Burn, you bastard, burn!" 


	18. John's Remedy

97 reviews!!!! Yay!!! Thank you! Action, action, lot's of action! This is the 2nd to last chapter of the story! Epilogue is next chapter . . . be sure to read to the very end of the epilogue though . . . even after the story's officially over, because a little surprise will be waiting! ^_^ I'll shut up so you can read the story. Also, this is going to be a very long chapter . . . just warning you . . .  
  
* * *  
  
John made a move to help him, an instinct. But then he drew back. This is the guy that would have had them hanged, so why not let him have what's coming to him? So he watched, analyzing the power of Blaze. He glanced over at Rogue and Bobby. Still knocked out cold.  
  
John sighed inwardly. Guess he was right after all. Can't trust that the X- Men would come to the rescue. Can't trust anyone, period. They'll only disappoint you.  
  
Blaze enjoyed this, enjoyed the fact that she was causing him pain, just as he had caused her pain. But it was taking a long time . . . why wasn't he frying?!  
  
Suddenly, the enormous amount of fire she had thrown at him was being thrown back at her! She was caught off guard and she was thrown off her feet and hit the ground hard.  
  
She got up and muttered, "Pyro!" But when her eyes fiercely locked onto John, he was staring back and forth from her father to her, surprised.  
  
Her father's arms were outstretched. Suddenly, he brought his hands close to himself and stared at them, his mouth opened and panting for breath.  
  
He stared at his hands, and suddenly he felt . . . warm.  
  
"I haven't done that in twenty years . . ." He said. He suddenly felt . . . whole again. Like a part of him had been missing for twenty years and suddenly it was found. When he had disowned Liz . . . even more had been chipped away.  
  
Blaze was staring at him in disbelief. "You . . . You're a mutant?"  
  
"Yes." President Johnson said, as if not believing it himself.  
  
His wife, in the meanwhile, was trembling uncontrollably. "You . . . you led me to believe that you were human! How can you be one of . . . THEM?!"  
  
Rage gripped Blaze again. He was a mutant, yet he commits crimes against them and acts all superior?  
  
"You may be immune to fire," Blaze said slowly, walking slowly towards them, "But SHE isn't." And then she threw a flame streamer at her mother. But then, the flame streamer shot off into the distance.  
  
This time it wasn't her father, though. It was John.  
  
"Sorry, Blaze," He said, "But you kill someone, it's all over for you. And that's not going to happen if I can help it."  
  
John had been reluctant to help out her father, but now he was more concerned about helping Blaze.  
  
"You're next." She snarled.  
  
"Now, we can be all nice and stuff and talk about this . . ." But suddenly, Blaze threw a fireball at him, which John dodged.  
  
". . . or we could do it your way and fight." John took out his lighter and made a fireball of his own.  
  
President Johnson got up and ran at his daughter.  
  
"Oh come on . . . you'll just hurt yourself that way." John said, and threw his fireball at the President, catching him in the chest, and causing him to fall down hard. He yelled in pain and clutched his leg.  
  
"Oops." John said sheepishly while creating another fireball.  
  
Blaze created two fireballs, one in each hand.  
  
"That's not fair!" John exclaimed.  
  
"In this world, nothing's fair." Blaze prepared to launch a fireball at John when suddenly she yelled and clutched her head in pain.  
  
John turned around wildly, seeing a flaming figure in the air slowly descending onto them. It was surrounded by flame, but once it landed onto the ground, it could be identified as Jean Grey. Her eyes had fire in them, and she seemed to be behind it.  
  
"It's about damn time!" John complained.  
  
Jean gave John a famous adult "shut up" look.  
  
"What are you doing?" John asked.  
  
Jean seemed slightly annoyed, but she was able to answer his question while keeping her hold on Blaze.  
  
"I'm opening up her mind so she can hear people's thoughts for a moment. Your thoughts, actually. You're the loudest."  
  
"Oh . . . hey! Wait! What's that supposed to mean?" John demanded.  
  
"And I'm trying to calm her down, that's the key to all this." Jean explained.  
  
"How do you know that?" John asked.  
  
"You talk too much." Jean said.  
  
Suddenly, a loud rumbling could be heard. John turned his head, the sweat pouring down his face. Tanks were rolling in and stopped behind them. Coming from the rear were fire trucks.  
  
Out of the fire trucks came the X-Men. Nightcrawler teleported in front of John with a puff of smoke, holding on to Rogue and Bobby, who were awake. But once the blue mutant set them down, Rogue let out a gasp of pain and fell to the floor.  
  
"Rogue!" Bobby exclaimed.  
  
"I think something's wrong with my ankle," Rogue said between gritted teeth.  
  
A military man climbed out from the passenger seat of one of the fire trucks.  
  
"I'm Colonel Stevens. Everything will be explained soon. First we need to get the President and First Lady to a hospital." Blaze's Uncle said.  
  
"Wait a minute, I want her finished off!" The President ordered.  
  
"Yeah? Well you'd better leave her the hell alone if you don't want America to know that their anti-mutant president is a mutant himself!" The Colonel snapped.  
  
President Johnson's mouth was open, and he looked furious. "You-you went behind my back and sided with these . . . abominations!"  
  
The Colonel's gray eyes narrowed. Though he was pretty young for a Colonel, only in his thirties, his face was lined heavily. He had let his friend run his reign of anti-mutant activists and not said anything long enough. He had watched him throw away his own daughter for unwillingly inheriting the power that pulsed through her handed down blood. The blood of her father himself. No more. It's time things changed around here.  
  
"He's delusional. Medical Team, take him and the First Lady to the hospital and ignore any orders he gives. His mind is fragile, and you don't want to harm it, do you?" His gaze narrowed menacingly at the medics, making sure they'd do what they were told.  
  
A young man emerged from behind the Colonel. He was also wearing an army uniform.  
  
"Yes, Private Lyman?" Colonel Stevens asked.  
  
"Sir . . . don't you know whose those people are?" Private Lyman asked nervously, glancing at Blaze on the ground, Jean, and a glaring John.  
  
"Yes, Private, I know who they are," The Colonel answered coolly.  
  
"Colonel Sir . . . these people, these X-Men, they are the ones who killed my father at Alkali Lake!" The young man explained angrily.  
  
"That was not us," Kurt Wagner corrected in his thick German accent, "that was Magneto and Mystique, and they are not X-Men!"  
  
"They are mutants all the same," Private Lyman said gruffly.  
  
"You listen to me, Private," Colonel Stevens said, looming over him, "these people may be our only chance, so push whatever feelings you have behind."  
  
Suddenly, Jean whipped her head around, her red hair moving gracefully onto her shoulders. "It's no use. She's too far gone."  
  
"What are you talking about?" John demanded.  
  
Jean shook her head. "It's not something I can just fix. It's tied to her emotions, and if I try to work form the inside it might damage her mind permanently."  
  
"I've got a simple solution." Private Lyman announced bluntly. He quickly whipped his gun out, cocked it, and fired at Blaze.  
  
"Stand down soldier!" Colonel Stevens shouted, but it was too late.  
  
Jean focused her energy on moving the fast bullet out of their way, but in doing this, she averted her concentration away from Blaze.  
  
Fireballs surrounded them from in the air, and it started to shower onto them. Fire rain. John strained to use his powers and avert the fireballs elsewhere, but there was too many to cover all at once. His heart skipped a beat as he realized his partially developed powers wouldn't be enough to stop it.  
  
But suddenly, a huge burst of water hit Blaze full on and she was thrown into a flaming building. They all turned their heads to see who it was, but Jean already knew.  
  
"Pyro." She scowled.  
  
John turned his head to her, but she wasn't looking at him. He followed her gaze to his older self, smirking slightly as he held the fire hose.  
  
"What? You should all be thanking me for saving your sorry asses." Pyro smirked in satisfaction.  
  
Jean looked thoughtfully at him. "YOU could go in and help her . . . you're powerful enough." But before Pyro could even utter a word, Jean's scowl deepened, "But then, of course, the only reason you saved us to save your past self . . . if he dies, you never exist."  
  
Pyro tapped his cranium in ironic likeliness to Magneto tapping his helmet. "You telepaths . . . dead useful, but so annoying. I could help, but it'd be so much more fun to leave it to you goody-goodies. See ya." He turned around and began walking away.  
  
John angrily began to follow him, rage surging through him. He saw Bobby getting up too; Bobby wouldn't let New York City burn, or let their new friend die.  
  
But Jean warned them off telepathically.  
  
~ Leave him. ~  
  
Bobby raised an eyebrow quizzically at his old Professor, but he went back to Rogue, who had medics fixing her up. John, however, advanced on the Phoenix.  
  
"What're you going to do now?!" John demanded. "You can't fix it, so who can?!"  
  
"It's an emotional tie," Jean explained, "maybe one of us could go in for a pep talk, but we'd get burned . . . and I know I'm needed out here."  
  
"So who . . . oh . . ." John trailed off, suddenly realizing what his former teacher was hinting at.  
  
"You're the only one on our side who is immune to fire," Jean said, "You can try."  
  
"As much as I hate to admit this, but what if he fails?" Colonel Stevens asked, making sure there wasn't any backdoors.  
  
"We'll be ready . . . as a last resort." Jean said solemnly.  
  
* * *  
  
John entered the flaming door, feeling the crisp fire on his skin. He felt its warmth, but it didn't hurt him.  
  
Inside, John could barely see anything through all the smoke of the burning building. He squinted, ignoring the dust was constantly kicking up into his face. He could see a very faint black outline of a person . . . but then it was gone. He looked all around him, searching for the figure. Suddenly, a hot fire streamer hit him hard in the back. John painfully crashed into a wall, hitting his mouth. He put his hands to his lips and saw blood.  
  
Blaze emerged from the flames, a smirk playing on her lips. John was reminded of the way his future self had smirked . . . it bothered him. Something was weird about his evilness, and the steroid Blaze had been injected with.  
  
Blaze, with an enormous amount of strength, picked John up by his shirt and slammed him into the wall. John coughed as dust entered his mouth.  
  
"You think you can beat me?" She sneered in a very un-Blaze-like way. "You're nothing but a loser. Even your so-called friends were tired of you . . ." This struck a nerve.  
  
John kicked her in the stomach, and she gasped for breath. He had knocked the wind of out her. She recovered quickly and glared at John. Her eyes lit up, and suddenly fire on all four sides came crashing in on John. But inside the wall of flame, the firestarter rolled his eyes and wondered if that power boost made her stupid. At first he felt sorry for her, but now he was just plain pissed off.  
  
"Fine." Blaze scowled as her fire attack didn't work. "Guess we'll have to do this the old fashioned way . . . with fists."  
  
John grinned. He had no problem with this. Fist fighting is a guy's-and his- special area. To survive in Australia, he had to be good at street fights. There's no way he could get beat by a girl in fist fighting . . . even if she is more powerful. But he assumed that just meant boosting her fire power.  
  
He cracked his knuckles and looked up to where she was. She was gone.  
  
What? He thought.  
  
Suddenly a fist appeared out of nowhere. Luckily he dodged it time.  
  
Stupid! John cursed himself. He was being too cocky . . . one of his traits. John had also forgotten that Blaze was trained by the X-Men. And she'd made a fool of him by kicking his butt the first time he met her. Of course she was a good fighter.  
  
He swung his fist hard at her, but caught only air. John could hear Blaze laughing.  
  
"So slow! I thought you were going to be tougher than that!" Blaze laughed.  
  
"I am," John growled, his teeth clenched.  
  
"Seems to me like you're just a tough guy on the outside. Inside . . . you're putty. Poor John, what a tragic past. Get over it."  
  
John felt like screaming. He hated those psychiatrist types of sayings . . . always evaluating and judging. He especially couldn't stand this one . . . because he had a feeling that some of the things she said were right. It was like she had slapped him in the face. And to make things worse, the smoke was so thick he could barely see his fists in front of his face! He had no idea how Blaze could see through this.  
  
Then, he sensed something. Something was behind him! He sidestepped out of the way, and Blaze fell forward, intending to deliver a punch. John grabbed her and returned the favor by slamming her against the wall too. He held her tightly against the wall so she couldn't move. To stop her from kicking him in the very sensitive spot all boys had, he stepped on both feet.  
  
"Oops . . . did I make big bad Pyro mad?" She smiled cruelly.  
  
"You know what?" John said, finally fed up with it, "I try to save your ass, and you want to insult me?" (A/N: *sigh* John does swear a lot . . . ignore his dirty mouth, although ass isn't that bad a word . . . *ponders* back to the story!)  
  
"That's the idea."  
  
"Cut the crap, Liz," John said, calling her by her real name, "you and I both know this isn't you. And you're going to die if you don't stop this!" Maybe a reality check with do that emotional thing that Jean was talking about. Truth is, he hadn't the slightest clue what he's supposed to do.  
  
"What was the Pyro philosophy? Better die with a bang of power than die weak?" Blaze retorted, but she blinked a couple of times. Her eyebrows were knitted together and she looked confused. She looked at John as if she didn't know where she was and why they were in a burning building.  
  
John sighed with relief. It worked. But then, the flame in her eyes and the scowl were back. Blaze made another fire streamer and it got John off her. She kicked him and he hit the wall near a window. The window shattered and shards of glass fell onto him. He felt nauseated, and almost felt like fainting.  
  
Blaze charged at him, intending to finish him off.  
  
It's over, He thought, I failed. Maybe I really am a loser . . .  
  
But a survival instinct, the Pyro inside of him, told him that it was not over, he could still win. All he had to do was keep fighting . . . never give up. He endured during the painful years in Australia, and he can endure the pain and win here too.  
  
His bloody hand caught a piece of glass. He made sure the sharp part was exposed. He prepared to use every last of his strength and mutant power on this. His survival.  
  
Blaze was charging towards him quickly, and John slowly stood up, supporting himself with the wall. She almost came onto him, but then John pulled his hand up and felt the glass hit flesh. Blaze screamed in pain as the shard cut deeply into her right cheek. John was glad that he didn't hit her eye. He threw the glass down to the floor and pushed her away from him, back into the endless smoke.  
  
But then, John heard a creaking noise and noticed that one of the pillars holding up the roof was going to fall! Blaze was right under it, blood streaking down her cheeks. Her finger, soaked with her red blood, was held up in front of her face. She was staring at the blood, as if unable to believe that it was there.  
  
John was feeling pretty weak and drained; but the adrenaline had defiantly kicked in and he was able to move quickly and push Blaze out of the way. But he tripped over one of the loose boards and fell. He tugged at his shoe, but it was stuck. John's heart pounded as fear gripped him. He tugged at his shoe even harder, but he could hear the creaking of the floorboard above him. Suddenly, something hot scorched his foot and pulled his foot free. But then, the floorboard came loose and it began to fall, bits of debris falling with it.  
  
He put his hands over his head to protect himself, as he couldn't move out of the way in time, but it never fell onto him. A burst of fire shot the board and it hit the wall on the other side.  
  
To John's surprise, he saw a panting Blaze with her arms outstretched towards where the board was. Sweat was trickling down her forehead.  
  
Suddenly, Blaze wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, suddenly bursting into tears, something she didn't do often. A mixture of tears and blood flowed down her face.  
  
"Oh my god! Thank you! I couldn't do anything, I'm so sor-"  
  
But she never finished her sentence, and John felt pressure onto his shoulder. He set her back straight and saw that her eyes and closed. John was worried, but when he felt her pulse, he was relieved to feel one . . . though faint.  
  
John was dead tired, but he found the strength to pick her up and proceeded to walk through the door of fire.  
  
* * *  
  
Bobby had waited outside anxiously with Rouge, whose leg had been wrapped up. Colonel Stevens, who they found out, was referred to by Blaze as "Uncle", insisted on taking Rogue to the hospital, but Rogue refused. Bobby was impressed with his girlfriend that she could stand the pain just to wait.  
  
Rogue had been holding her gloved hand in Bobby's, and he gave it an extra squeeze. She turned her head and smiled, but she still looked worried. Everyone had been standing impatiently, waiting for them.  
  
Bobby glared icily at Private Lyman, who looked very ticked off with too assault rifles pointed at him.  
  
Jean's powers seemed to have grown a lot since he remembered . . . when she had "died". Bobby had been watching her, knowing she knew exactly what was going in there. Her facial expressions seemed to change constantly. Sometimes she'd flinch, but her face mostly stayed in a worried expression. But then, she sighed in relief and looked ahead.  
  
Colonel Stevens, Rogue, and Bobby all stared into the distance. At first, through the smoke billowing out of the home, they couldn't see anyone.  
  
A distant figure appeared through the smoke. It was John. And he was carrying a limp Blaze.  
  
Bobby got up to his feet and dashed over to help his friend.  
  
"Is she-?" Bobby asked worriedly.  
  
John shook his head, too tired to speak. He gratefully handed Blaze over to Bobby. His knees trembled, and he blacked out before he hit the floor.  
  
* * *  
  
John woke up with a massive headache. He groaned and rubbed his head, pushing his brown hair back. He was back in the medical room. His dark brown eyes searched the room, but no one was in there, except for a mass of red hair near him, wrapping something on his/her arm.  
  
The person turned around to reveal a beautiful girl with shinning red hair and green eyes flecked with . . . red? She looked somewhat familiar to John.  
  
Not to mention hot! John thought.  
  
She noticed him watching and said, "You're Pyro, right?"  
  
"Yeah. And you are . . .?"  
  
"Rachel Summers." The redhead answered.  
  
"Summers?" John asked.  
  
"Yeah, Cyclops is my dad, and Phoenix is my mom. Or One-Eye, if you're Logan."  
  
"That's . . . interesting." John said, slightly unnerved.  
  
"Well . . . see you."  
  
He got up and walked towards the sliding door after Rachel, and bumped into Rogue.  
  
"John!" Rogue gave him a hug, "You're okay!"  
  
"Uh . . . yeah." John mumbled. But then he smirked as he caught the slightly jealous look from Bobby.  
  
"So, where our crazy friend?" He asked.  
  
Rogue looked uncomfortable. "Um . . . well . . . she's not speaking to anyone. I think she's feeling pretty guilty right now. Me and Bobby went to talk to her and told her it was okay, but it didn't work. Jean told us to leave her alone for a while."  
  
"She was pretty upset." Bobby added.  
  
"I'll go," John offered.  
  
"But Jean said-"  
  
"You always do what you're told?" John smirked, echoing what he had told Rouge at Alkali Lake.  
  
Rogue smiled. "Most of the time. But we're learning. After all, we did save you from drowning against my . . . Marie . . . future Rogue's wishes?"  
  
John shrugged, and asked where Blaze was. Bobby told him, and he headed above ground.  
  
"Maybe there's hope for him yet," Rogue remarked, grasping Bobby's hand. He squeezed it and leaned into her ear.  
  
"Maybe. But let's now worry about John right now. Or Blaze." Bobby whispered.  
  
"And what are you trying to say?" Rogue asked sadly, "You know what happened when you-"  
  
Bobby swooped in and touched her lips. He had missed the soft kiss they had shared at his house . . . they've been able to do pecks, but nothing like before . . .  
  
Rogue wanted to pull away, but both her power and Bobby's kiss was addicting. She held on and enjoyed the moment as long as she could. Once Bobby felt the pull of her destructive power kicking in, he released her, and they both blew out icy breaths, smiling widely.  
  
(A/N: Couldn't resist putting a tiny B/R moment in there! ^_^)  
  
* * *  
  
Blaze sat outside in the lot behind the shop, the cover for the X-Men's underground base. She sat on a comfortable white bench, staring at the beautiful clear night. She could see the stars, which was unusual in New York. But after the fiasco that she had caused, not many people had any electricity.  
  
It was a peaceful night, and the breeze was warm. Blaze was in the middle of a daydream when she felt someone sit down beside her.  
  
"Hey." John said.  
  
Blaze closed her eyes and didn't answer, pain emerging straight from her heart. Just go away, She thought.  
  
"So . . . we've taken on a vow of silence have we?" John joked.  
  
She rolled her eyes on instinct.  
  
"Nice night." John tried again. "Weird though, how it's so peaceful when hell broke loose today. And national security has been breached or whatever, and-"  
  
"Do you ever shut up?!" Blaze groaned finally.  
  
John smirked. "When all else fails, annoy and you'll defiantly get a response."  
  
Blaze couldn't help but crack a smile. Then she said, "I'm sorry."  
  
"Of course you're sorry. Everyone's sorry. But we know it. I don't know why you're beating yourself up about it."  
  
"Not that."  
  
". . . You're NOT sorry about sending all of New York in flames?" John asked skeptically.  
  
"Of course I am, stupid. I meant what I said to you in the building. I remember everything."  
  
"And then you called me stupid? What kind of apology is that?" John asked again, smiling.  
  
Blaze was getting fed up now. "Look, I'm just saying I hope I didn't hurt your feelings back there . . . to add insult to injury. If I did, I'm sorry. That's what's really been bugging me."  
  
"What happened to that Colonel guy?"  
  
"Through some connections, the X-Men were able to send him to his mutant wife . . . and his child."  
  
"How are you? I mean, after being injected with the steroid thing, it's gone right?" John asked.  
  
Blaze stared blankly at the stars for a moment before answering. "No. You saved me just in time before I . . . died. Most of the steroid burned out, but there's still some left. So I have to be very careful when getting angry, or I could cause it to spark up again. But thanks to you . . .thanks for saving me."  
  
John turned to face her, and noticed the gash he had left on her cheek.  
  
Blaze slowly touched it, fingering the wound. "That's going to be a scar."  
  
John changed the subject. "So what are you going to do?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, you're probably going to be on America's Most Wanted . . . you do still have AMW in this time right?"  
  
Blaze nodded. "I don't know . . . I've been living and hiding my powers, why not just hide all together?"  
  
Suddenly, John had an idea. "How about . . . you come back to the past with us?"  
  
Blaze turned to him, surprised. "What?" She thought about it, but then slumped down on the bench, "It won't work. It might screw up the past. I already screwed up the present . . . your future . . . I don't want to screw up the second chance!"  
  
"Are you sure?" John asked. "Didn't the snowman's future self say that you had a hand in this?"  
  
Blaze shrugged. "Maybe it was just the fact that I helped you not be evil?"  
  
"Are you saying I was evil before?!"  
  
"No!"  
  
John leaned back, staring up at the dim light from the stars. "Well, if you did come with us . . . it'd be cool, even if you tried to kill me. When Bobby and Rogue get all snuggly, I could hang with you . . . because they do the boyfriend/girlfriend thing a lot."  
  
Blaze smiled. "That would be cool. Truth is, I don't have that many friends. Sometimes it feels like my life's just been this huge struggle against the world and my family. But I'm just afraid of what might happen if I do go and isn't meant to . . ."  
  
"What if you are? Oh well, at the very least I can see you again in 20 years! Maybe the future will be better for you anyway."  
  
Blaze's smile suddenly became sad. "In a way. Once you change the future, it won't change this time line. This future wouldn't be saved if you changed it. It would just create another time line . . . with a Blaze there too, but it wouldn't be me. The Blaze there will probably never meet you, Bobby or Rogue in the past. Maybe in this time, though, we'll win . . . eventually."  
  
John just stared at her, confused.  
  
"Didn't you study time physics? I guess you didn't have that information back then . . ."  
  
"Even if we did, do you really think I pay attention in class?"  
  
They both laughed, and as they laughed, the stars seemed to twinkle.  
  
* * *  
  
Rogue stared nervously at the large time travel portal in front of her. It was like a huge oval mirror with multi-colors and electric sparks flying out form it time to time.  
  
Jean, Scott, Marie, and Blaze were there.  
  
"Bye!" Rogue called, and then, she nervously walked into the vortex, Bobby shortly following her.  
  
John was about to follow them, when Blaze called him back.  
  
"John . . . what side are you going to choose?" Blaze asked.  
  
"What . . . oh. I never really thought about it." John admitted. "I kind of had other things on my mind, you know . . ."  
  
"Just . . . can you promise me something?" Blaze asked.  
  
"Sure, what?"  
  
Blaze leaned in and whispered something into his ear.  
  
"Can do." John said, smiling. "Oh . . . hey, Jean?"  
  
"Yes, John?" Jean answered, making John feel like he was in class again.  
  
"Do you think Blaze could come with us to the past?" John asked.  
  
"John . . ." Blaze trailed off, wanting to stop him.  
  
Jean shook her head sadly. "She doesn't belong in that time, John, sorry."  
  
"But Bob's hologram said . . ." John argued.  
  
"I know, John, I'm sorry, but it can't happen!" Jean said, setting the rule down firmly. John and Blaze both knew there was no use arguing further. "Now, go back to your own time . . . and try to fix things now that you've experienced what would happen if you don't change, okay?"  
  
"You'd better not!" Marie added threateningly to John.  
  
"You heard the ladies." Scott said, with his usual Scott-ness.  
  
"Yeah, yeah. Bye, Liz." John kissed her on the cheek. "Had to make a Hollywood-worthy disappearance to make for all the crappy movies in this time." He grinned.  
  
Blaze rolled her eyes at John.  
  
He stepped close to the time travel machine, his heart beating fast. Those sparks coming out of the machine looked very painful . . .  
  
"Remember! You promised!" Blaze called out.  
  
John saluted before plunging into the time machine.  
  
After he disappeared, Blaze let out a sad sigh. Marie put an arm of comfort around Blaze. "I'm sorry, hon, but you know in this war, some sacrifices had to be made. And we couldn't risk someone who wasn't meant to be there altering reality."  
  
"I know." Blaze said sadly. But she couldn't help thinking back to what John had said before . . .  
  
What if she was meant to go back with them in the past? 


	19. Return

This is *drum roll please* the final installment of "Nothing is Set In Stone"! Or is it? Hmm . . . let's ponder this . . . be sure to read the very end, even after the story's done, cause a surprise will be there! And now, my inner fan girl is about to come out so be afraid, be very afraid . . .  
  
Yay! I reached my goal of over 100 reviews!!!! Thank you, thank you! WHOOOOO! (Okay, maybe that wasn't too bad . . . but I feel very chatty right now. ^_^0)  
  
*clears throat* I have some reviewers to thank (Feel free to skip this part and move onto the story, which by the way, I hope you'll like):  
  
Special thanks to: Obiwanfan, Wiccan-One14, Pyrotic, Icegirl-Kat, Orlandorocksmyworld, and Pyro-Hi!  
  
Also thanks to: Rhiannon Merdon, squishyJH, highlitergrl, Flame3, Lalene Brooks, Ang3l666, the Proud Canadian, Aussiegal, Sethoz, happy-little- hobbit, Starkeeper, and everyone else! (Sorry, can't fit in everyone who reviewed the earlier chapters or I'll never get to the story . . .) I apologize if I got your usernames spelled wrong!  
  
I feel like I'm at the Oscars . . . anyway, review!  
  
Random Fact: This fic is really supposed to be Bobby and Rogue centered but SOMEHOW . . . this story turned sort of Pyro centric, although John was only supposed to supply part of the plot and the must needed sarcasm. Although I think Bobby and Rogue still play a pretty big part, right?  
  
Ignore me . . . on with the story!  
  
* * *  
  
They were flying. It was as if they were cruising through time itself. John kept on getting glimpses of events that happened, but he rushed by them so fast that he didn't bother to try and figure them out.  
  
John really didn't like time traveling. There were colorful sparks, sort of like Jubilee's power, that kept on zapping around and occasionally hit him, in which case was extremely painful. But at the same time, he felt this undeniable freedom . . . something he hadn't felt in a while.  
  
Up ahead, Bobby and Rogue were desperately trying to find each other. Rogue had gone in first, and she suddenly sensed someone behind her. She reached her gloved hand back, and she felt the strong grip of her boyfriend Bobby clasp his hand over hers.  
  
Rogue felt safe now.  
  
Suddenly, a huge gap of dark space opened up ahead of her, and she felt relieved to see everyone: the Professor, Jubilee, Kitty, Logan . . . hell, even Magneto! She felt as if shocks were pulsing through her entire body, and then she hit the hard ground, her hand still grasped in Bobby's.  
  
A couple of seconds later, John flew out of the portal too, managing to turn himself in the air and landing on his butt. He immediately reached into his pocket and checked on his lighter. He sighed in relief when he saw that his Zippo lighter was safe.  
  
He surveyed the scene he had landed on. No time had passed at all, although he, Bobby, and Rogue had been in the future for about a week . . .  
  
It was a wreck. The blow that had sent them to the future scattered everyone. Everyone was on the ground, hurt, maybe dead. Professor Xavier was out of his wheelchair, struggling to sit up. With a wave of his hand, his plastic wheelchair flew back towards him. Holding the handles of the wheelchair, he slowly got into it. He stared at the wasteland sadly, and then he noticed his two newest X-Men and his former student standing above the rubble, unhurt at all.  
  
Rogue looked over at her teacher staring at them.  
  
"Um . . . we can explain?" Rogue said, shrugging feebly.  
  
Suddenly, a figure moved on the Brotherhood side of the rubble.  
  
"Who is it John?" Bobby asked.  
  
"It's the old man," John replied as Magneto got up, dusted the dirt off his helmet, and faced the group with a slightly confused look on his face.  
  
"Hmm. Well, we seem to be outnumbered, but fire beats ice." Magneto croaked, his voice harsh. He was feeling very angry.  
  
"John . . ." Rogue trailed off quietly. She really thought John wouldn't betray them again . . . not after everything they'd been through. But then again, she never would have thought he would have left them in the first place . . .  
  
"Erik, this has gone too far. Everyone is badly hurt. Let's stop this now," Xavier said, his voice forceful and tired.  
  
Bobby's hand found Rogue's. He squeezed her hand, giving her strength. If John chose Magneto now . . . after seeing the person he would become . . . seeing Bobby's own grave . . . Bobby would never forgive him. Never.  
  
John felt like he was stuck in that time traveling machine again. Before he would have picked Magneto hands down . . . he would have thought that Bobby and Rogue were a part of his past . . .  
  
But now that he had gone into the future, things are different. He knew what would happen if he stayed with Magneto.  
  
John took his lighter out of his pocket and started flicking it on and off, ignoring the looks from his friends and Magneto. (A/N: Sorry for the bad portrayal of Magneto right now . . . his side of the story will come later. *hint hint*)  
  
He himself had been disgusted and ashamed by his future self, and he could tell everyone else was too. Except, at the same time, he sort of admired the power both his future self and Blaze had. Guess it's just in his blood.  
  
It was kind of weird. Before, when he was still with Magneto, he would have thought Blaze a coward for not using her powers. But now . . . he realized that she was brave to be able to stand up to everything and keep her powers in control. Her father destroyed all that when he made her do those things . . .  
  
John realized that he didn't want to have to relive that future, especially if he knew what would happen. And that, as much as he hated to admit it, would take some sacrifice.  
  
Pyro sighed as he paused before flicking his lighter on again, the flame reflecting in his dark eyes.  
  
"Piss off." He said, looking up at Magneto, danger sparking in his eyes.  
  
Magneto blinked, surprised. For once he seemed unsure of himself. "Excuse me?"  
  
"I said . . . piss off!" And with that, a small fire streamer erupted from the flame and hit Magneto in the face. Magneto fell and didn't get up.  
  
Rogue sighed as she realized she had been holding her breath. She looked into Bobby's deep blue eyes and smiled. Then she glanced back at her redeemed friend.  
  
"Let's go home," She said.  
  
* * *  
  
Hours after the wreck, everyone else was nursing their wounds. To extreme luck, no one on the X-Men team had died. The Brotherhood seemed to have had a few casualties, however. The trio and the Professor were having a talk inside his office.  
  
"Well, now that we have some privacy, would you mind telling me what happened?" Professor Xavier asked.  
  
"Can't you just read our minds?" John asked rudely.  
  
Xavier gave John a look. "I could. But I'd prefer to hear YOUR side of the story in YOUR own words. And don't bother saying nothing happened. You do not need to tell me everything, but I'd like to know the brunt of it."  
  
"But then how would you know something happened if you didn't read our minds?" John challenged. He enjoyed seeing how far he could stretch Xavier's patience.  
  
But as usual, Xavier seemed to know what John wanted him to do and merely smiled patiently. "Common sense, John. It's something certain people have yet to learn to use instead of their powers."  
  
John exchanged a glance with Bobby sheepishly.  
  
So they explained, in turn, their adventure in the future. With a silent agreement, they managed to dance around the fact that the Professor wouldn't live to see that future.  
  
In between their story, the Professor interrupted them and questioned the whole Miss Marvel/Rogue deal.  
  
"I-I don't know. I just held on for such a long time, and I somehow got her powers and mind . . . I honestly didn't mean to I swear Professor . . ." Rogue ranted. The thought of the female mutant locked up in her mind made her nervous.  
  
"I know you wouldn't do that on purpose, Rogue." The Professor's eyes clouded for a moment. "The barrier Jean set for you is fine. The time travel didn't affect it."  
  
"So . . . about Jean . . .we don't know how she comes back . . ."  
  
"I know. I've felt her presence . . . I've known she, or at least her spirit, is alive somehow." The Professor explained, "Rogue, why don't you try out the flying?"  
  
Rogue concentrated hard, but she only levitated off her chair about a foot before crashing back down.  
  
"It's alright Rogue. Even if it was originally someone else's ability, it will take time to fine-tune it." The Professor encouraged.  
  
They continued the story, this time John narrating. When John finished talking about Blaze and her dad, the Professor waited until he was done before speaking up.  
  
"What is this 'Blaze's' real name?" He asked curiously, his green eyes alert. (A/N: I think they're green . . .)  
  
"Elizabeth Johnson," Rogue supplied.  
  
"Johnson . . . as in Senator Johnson?" The Professor pressed further.  
  
"Well . . . he's the President there. He hates mutants but he is one himself." Bobby added, "Why?"  
  
The Professor hesitated a moment before answering. "Senator Johnson is an avid anti-mutant supporter, as Bobby pointed out. Although it is a little surprising that he's a mutant himself, but it is not unheard of. He must be very ashamed of his abilities to hide it in hatred like that. I believe he is the youngest Senator we've had yet. We were planning on something for him . . . but we had better leave him alone now, since his daughter will be of such great help to you in the future. We must not tamper with that, thank you for pointing it out to me . . .what is his power, by the way?"  
  
"He can control fire," John muttered, memories resurfacing of his and Blaze's fight. He could still remember the burning smell and the smoke.  
  
"Interesting," The Professor commented, looking interested and glancing John's way.  
  
"Well, back to the present day, John . . . you are intending on staying, right?"  
  
John grinned. "After telling Magneto to piss off, I doubt he'd ever forgive me, so yeah . . . I guess."  
  
"Well then . . ." Professor Xavier began. The trio jumped as the doors to his office opened and a bag of books fell into John's lap.  
  
"Show off," John muttered quietly.  
  
Xavier didn't seem to hear him, "Here are your books. We kept them in storage for new students. But I suppose you can have them back. There will be no school tomorrow, and then weekend break. But I expect you three to be ready for class on Monday."  
  
John groaned. "Class was something I didn't miss here,"  
  
"C'mon, buddy," Bobby teased, "If we have to suffer, so do you. Of course, a lot of the classes are interesting and worth learning . . ." Bobby added hastily, glancing the Professor's way.  
  
"I suggest you three rest up. You've had a long . . . week, I suppose," The Professor said.  
  
* * *  
  
John sat on the couch, flicking his lighter on and off. Rogue and Bobby sat on either side of him. They had been trying really hard not to be a couple as much around him. John was touched at the gesture, but he really didn't mind. He actually thought they were trying a bit too hard to make sure he's happy enough so he wouldn't leave again.  
  
Suddenly, Bobby and Rogue sat up.  
  
"John, come on," Rogue urged.  
  
"Come on what?" John asked lazily, still playing with the flame.  
  
"There's a new student. We're supposed to go meet her."  
  
"Ah . . . no. Being the X-Kid Ambassador is YOUR job. Cyclops still doesn't trust me!"  
  
"Did he ever?" Bobby scoffed.  
  
"Shut up, snowman." John said darkly.  
  
Rogue grabbed Bobby's arm. "C'mon, Bobby, John's just a party pooper," But she smiled at John before marching off with her boyfriend.  
  
What does the Professor think I am? John thought grumpily. He continued to play with the fire, subconsciously making different shapes out of the single flame, in deep thought.  
  
He snapped back to reality when he heard very loud squeals coming from the hall. Rogue, probably. What was she so happy about?  
  
John made up his mind to go and see what the heck Rogue was making such a racket about. He walked out of the lounge, crossed into the hall, and stopped dead in his tracks.  
  
Rogue had just released the new girl from a very tight hug just when John had rounded the corner.  
  
The girl flipped her long brown bangs out of her face. John's eyes drifted to the thin scar on her right cheek.  
  
This girl did not run and give him a hug like Rogue had done to her. Instead, she crossed her arms across her chest and smirked at him.  
  
"Surprised to see me?" Blaze asked, her smirk transforming into a smile.  
  
* * *  
  
Once again, they found themselves in Professor Xavier's office. Blaze was relaying the story to them.  
  
Every since she had attacked her dad involuntarily, she couldn't show her face in public without being in disguise. Her face was on the news. Her father was determined to make her pay for revealing his dark secret of his mutant abilities, although no one else knew besides his wife. He must have threatened her to keep her quiet.  
  
They were given a tip from a mole working for them in the CIA who told them that the government had figured out the location of their secret underground X-Men base, the place Blaze had called home for years.  
  
The "portable" time machine Rogue, John, and Bobby had used apparently had a glitch-once you use it, it isn't portable anymore.  
  
Jean, at the last moment, decided that Blaze couldn't do anything in this time without being recognized and maybe she plays a bigger part in this . . . by actually going to the past and using her knowledge of the future to help change it. So she had sent Blaze through the portal before destroying it and moving on to the next base.  
  
"From what you have told me, and their story, I believe you. All I can say is: welcome to Xavier's Institute for Gifted Children, or Mutant High, as some call it. That is, if you'd like to stay." Xavier welcomed.  
  
Blaze was a bit uncomfortable around Professor Xavier at first. He was such a legend in the future, and it was weird meeting and talking to someone who's dead in her time. But his friendly disposition made it easy to respond, "Absolutely."  
  
When the four walked out of the office, Rogue wrapped a gloved arm around Blaze. "Looks like you're stuck with us!"  
  
"Looks like," Blaze replied, grinning.  
  
"Welcome to Mutant High," Bobby said.  
  
"Didn't the Prof already say that?" John pointed out.  
  
"Yeah, but I have to say it," Bobby retorted with a grin.  
  
Blaze smiled at her new friends. She had had many homes in the future. Her old house with her parents, before her mutation was discovered, her short housing at the White House, the X-Men Base . . . but nothing permanent.  
  
Now, Blaze really felt this might be that permanent home for her . . . and she'd do anything to protect it and the people inside.  
  
To Be Continued . . .  
  
* * *  
  
THERE IS A SEQUAL!!! Note the "To Be Continued"! It's called "Devil's Bargain". I posted it right after posting this chapter, so it should be showing. If not, wait a little while for it to appear before checking it out.  
  
Long version of the summary: Having to have returned from an adventure in the future, John has returned to the X-Men in order to prevent the things he does in the future while choosing to be with Magneto. Blaze joins them. However, events after another start to unfold, and a new threat emerges. This threat seems to be taking mutant's powers. . . And killing them at the same time. And what is this "Devil's Bargain" that John will make in the future to give him the ability to create fire and become evil? As John starts to doubt his decision to go back to the X-Men, can Bobby, Rogue, Blaze, and the X-Men stop the threat and save John from falling into darkness?  
  
Sound interesting? I hope so. Please check out the sequel! And thanks to everyone for their support of this story! ^_^ 


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